V
by djinni14
Summary: The world isn't what it used to be. Kate is never going to get justice and Rick is no longer a writer. Each has their own pain, till one day ... NOW COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**V**

 **CH1**

Kate Beckett woke to her own internal clock, yawned and stretched, and felt a couple of bones pop. Not that it actually hurt, but still. "Ow." She figured it should've hurt even if it didn't. She searched her meager possessions, made a choice on what to wear today, then got up and headed for the showers. "Karpowski," she greeted her. "Beckett," Roselyn responded with a nod. Kate thought about making a comment about drawing the short straw and getting shower duty but didn't.

Most everyone had this down to a science and Kate was no different. She turned on the water only long enough to get her hair wet and hopefully her body. She squirted out a tiny amount of shampoo that came from one of the hotels in the city and washed her hair with one hand while doing her best to use the same water to get her bath pouf wet. Then she applied a dab of gel, likely from the same hotel and started washing.

When it came time she turned on the water to rinse it all away and was almost done when Karpowski blew her whistle causing Kate to reach out and turn off the water. She used her pouf to wipe away the remaining suds and grabbed a towel. "See you later," she told her as she passed her with her towel wrapped around her.

Kate was lucky for two reasons: one, she had a little seniority and second, she was a female. The New York Police Department just didn't have that many women in it. The result was that she had a tent to call home. Granted it was one of those little three-person dome tents, still it had space for an inflatable twin mattress, a sleeping bag, bed sheets that in this case had Spiderman all over them along with a pillow. It wasn't to her taste but beggars couldn't be choosers and in these times everyone was a beggar.

She climbed into her tent, thankful for all those days that she spent in yoga class as she contorted her body to put on her panties, bra, slacks, and a top. Finally her power boots went on. She gathered up her weapon, checked it and the extra clips, and put everything in its place. No one bothered with handcuffs anymore since there was no need for them. She didn't need her radiation detector either.

After she crawled out of her tent she was met by Ann Hastings. "Hey Ann." Out of everyone still in the precinct, Ann was the person she liked the most. Roy Montgomery was a close second. "Hi Kate. Ten bucks says we go out on patrol today," Ann said as they headed for the stairs. She couldn't help but notice that Ann was sniffing her from a distance. Kate had done the same before. Probably Ann wouldn't get time in the shower till tomorrow or the day after. "Even if money was worth anything I wouldn't take that bet," she countered as Ann chuckled and Kate smiled her first and likely only smile for the day.

Downstairs they had to go through one of the men's sleeping areas to reach Captain Montgomery's office where he already had three men standing at his door. "Nice of you two to join us." Roy used to be nicer but that was before. Now he was a little sadder and more abrupt with everyone. The fun, if there was any to be had in his job, had been taken out of it. "Yes, sir," Ann stated. "Sorry, sir," Kate offered, not that either of them were actually late.

"Today I want a tour of our holdings and for you to find out if anyone has encountered any gangs that came through. Gather any intel you can. From there move on to these three locations and do a search. Pick up an empty backpack on your way out. That's all, get moving." He walked back into his office.

It was just the five of them this time; the surviving police officers had been assigned to five-person teams. They traded off what they did each day. Roy did his best to get everyone two days off but it didn't always work out that way.

Kate's team consisted of Ann Hastings, L.T. Toliver, Dwight Haskell, and Stan Holiwell. Thanks to the times, not everyone in the precinct used to work here though they all had been in law enforcement at one time or another. "Let's go ladies." She took them downstairs and checked with the guard at the doors before taking a peek out then moving across the street to one of the buildings that they had control over.

It used to have a row of businesses on the ground floor and apartments on the floors above. Today the ground floor was all boarded up; the fire escapes were still there except for most of the second floor. If you came down it you had to drop over an entire floor to reach the ground.

They crossed the street with their hand weapons out and ready, and lined up along the building while Kate went to the one and only door that still worked in this place. She gave three quick, soft knocks. "Porcupine," she called out and heard the door being unlocked and opened. "Harry," she greeted him as the others all filed inside. "Anything?"

"All quiet last night," he told them. "We're going to take a look around then leave. You still got your horn?" She watched him pull out his air horn and show it to them. It was this building's emergency horn. If Harry sounded it the police units across the street would come charging over, carefully, but still come charging.

Kate went up the stairs since the elevator was down and with good reason. It needed power to operate and while the precinct had little generators spread out all over, even they didn't use them much. Gasoline was hard to come by and was worth more than gold. Food and fresh water were the top priorities followed by weapons and rounds, then a safe place to stay. If you had that then came gas. Everything else followed based on what you found.

She greeted people as they went up the stairs and down the hallways, checking doors and stopping to talk to people. Finally reaching the roof, they each took a parapet to look out over and just watch for a while, always with their weapons ready. They ignored the people tending the garden that had been painstakingly built by hauling bucket after bucket of dirt up to the roof. They also had an elaborate rain catching system to water the garden.

There were no cars out on the road. Okay that was wrong; there were cars, trucks, even the occasional motorcycle. However, none of them worked anymore and they had made sure of it per Roy's orders. You didn't leave something the enemy could use against you. The vehicles had all been long since sucked dry of every drop of gas they could get out of them along with countless others. Even the gas stations had been drained dry using pumps to get every last drop out of the buried tanks.

It was past lunch when Kate decided to move on. From there they went down the back fire escape, dropped down to the ground, and carefully moved down the alley till they reached the first street. There they were forced to stop. Out in wide-open streets was dangerous, just ask Williams that. If you could since he was the last of his team to die just as they had reached him.

Kate gave silent signals that they were going to move across and take the next alley. All of these buildings had been cleaned out of everything they could possibly use. She ran bent over to the closest abandoned car and looked around before moving to the next one. She moved from car after car till she was at the entrance to the alley and took a peek before starting down it. Her team was right behind her with Ann bringing up the rear.

She checked doors all the way until they reached the next street. A quick look at Roy's list and they went down the street on one side using abandoned cars as cover till they reached the building on his list.

The place had what looked like burned out businesses on the ground floor which was not uncommon in the city these days. Most of the hotel's sign was missing though the housing for it was still there. It was a five-story building with a brick facade. The entrance to the hotel was a little door that opened into a narrow set of stairs. What made things bad was the junk partially blocking the stairs.

Kate made her silent signals and went in through the broken glass door without opening it. She was forced to carefully pick and choose where to place her feet as she went up the stairs. Once at the top she found a small desk area. She signaled for the others while she looked around and looked behind the desk. The back wall had a door with two doors on this side of the desk. She was betting one lead onto a hallway to the hotel rooms while the other lead to an emergency stairwell as was required for each building. Especially since this building didn't have an elevator.

Once everyone was up she pointed at the door behind the counter. L.T. went over the counter carefully with Toliver as his backup. Inside they found a small office that had another door. Holiwell and Hastings took one door while Kate took what she figured was the stairwell. She was right and found that it only went up. She sighed since she was betting this building had a basement, meaning those stairs were somewhere else. Still they had four floors to search and take what they could find. Holiwell and Hastings went down the hallway with L.T. and Toliver while Kate watched the stairs they came up as well as the stairs leading up to the other floors.

She was starting to wonder if they had been silently ambushed when they finally came back and each of them was carrying a comforter filled with stuff. "Sheets, comforters, pillows, people's personal items like antiperspirant and other things." Ann was grinning. Kate's eyes opened wide. Maybe this cheap rundown hotel with the burnt-out ground floor might just get them something.

Kate led them up to the next floor and guarded the stairs up and down while the other four began searching rooms, one at a time. This time she could watch them going down the short hallway and come out of rooms laden with even more bundles. By the time they reached her they each had two handfuls of comforters filled with stuff. "We can't carry much more," Ann warned her. Kate was empty-handed so they left their bundles with her while they searched rooms. They came back with two bundles for her to carry.

They finally left and went back down the stairs. The main stairs with the trash was the only place that slowed them down. They had two more buildings to go to on Roy's list but they were already heavily laden with what they had found.

It took them twice as long to make it back to the precinct that had been turned into as safe a place as they could make it. The surrounding streets and sidewalks were blocked with double rows of abandoned cars empty of gasoline. If someone besides them did have working cars they weren't going to find it easy to reach them using them.

Kate and the others were smiling wide as they dropped their bundles and started opening them to inspect what they had. Eight comforters, eight sets of sheets with pillow cases and pillows, eight towels, thirty-two bars of soap, eight bottles of shampoo, twelve sticks of deodorant, eight tubes of toothpaste, eight used toothbrushes, eight razors, eight containers of shaving cream, eight pairs of shoes, three pens that worked, a little bit of blank paper, two knives, four guns with a little ammunition, a few prescription drugs, eighteen rolls of unopened toilet paper and eight that had been, and last but certainly not least, a manual camera that actually used film along with four rolls of film. They had gotten lucky and one of the civilians still knew how to develop the film, he just needed a dark room and the chemicals. For this reason alone they didn't use the cameras much. Maybe when they had more time they would come back for the mattresses themselves.

A digital camera required the use of batteries and those were in short supply these days. Roy liked all of it. "This was just the first two floors of a five story building and likely a basement. We'll go back again tomorrow," Kate informed him. "Nice work, no trouble across the street?" Roy was curious. "All quiet sir," she replied. "Next time take the basement. If you find nothing go back upstairs." He was pleased. The items would be distributed. "Take the rest of the day off. Move out again in the morning." He headed for his office.

He sat down and added what they had found to his inventory list. If they could clean out that low-cost hotel it would help a lot. Maybe there was something in the basement. Since the phones no longer worked he left the fourth floor and went down to the third because he had another idea.

"Hearts?" Ann asked looking at Kate. "What are we playing for?" she questioned, because if it was worth it she would consider it. "Shampoo bottle?" Ann suggested. "Not much good without water," she countered. Ann looked at the four-man team that took their turn when Kate and hers were off.

"If they'll go for it I'm in." Kate watched Ann walk over to the four men and work out a deal. Two of them turned to take a quick look at her before turning back into the conversation. Eventually Ann walked back over to her. "One bottle of shampoo and one razor." Kate groaned. The men used razors to shave their faces though at the moment most of them had beards which made scissors a precious commodity for them. However, those that wanted to be clean-shaven needed razors and naturally the women did too if they wanted to shave their legs and armpits. "Your shampoo bottle and my razor?" she offered. Ann took it and signaled that they were in.

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Kate and Ann were walking up the stairs with their hard-won possessions. Ann had a stupidly simple Bic razor that had a few uses left in it and Kate had a full tiny bottle of shampoo. What she wished was that she had water to use some conditioner. Long hair these days was a liability so she'd had her hair cut like it was when she made detective. It was easier to keep clean and used less shampoo and water. It also helped to keep the back of her neck cool.

Ann and Kate stored their new items in their respective locations. "Dinner?" Ann caught up to her. "Sure. Hopefully we'll actually get something this time," Kate groaned since food was another problem everyone had. Most people didn't have electricity to keep the freezers or refrigerators running.

Roy had managed to find a few gas-powered generators to run some of their appliances. Cooking what they did have was another problem. The propane was gone, charcoal briquettes were in short supply and weren't going to last much longer. Fresh anything came from the garden that was now on their roof as well as the roof across the street.

They still had some meat but it wasn't from a cow. If you didn't ask or think about it, it was possible to actually swallow it. "What have we got?" Ann was behind Kate who was straining to look. "It kind of looks like stew but it's more of a soup." That was actually good news. "Bread?" Ann asked while praying hard. "A little it looks like." Ann silently thanked someone for listening.

It turned out to be a little thicker than Kate was thinking, still it was a little soupy and it came with a tiny piece of bread that they both used to soak up everything left in their bowls. "You know what this means right?" Ann asked her then said, "Probably running low on gas for the generators." Kate nodded. It meant they were using up what was in the refrigerators before they lost what little electricity they had and it spoiled.

"We need something more than sheets and comforters and soon," Kate pointed out. What they had found was good and they needed it, but they couldn't eat it. "We're going to be vegetarians soon." Ann didn't like that idea. "We need in that basement tomorrow. I have a good feeling about that it and those burned out stores." Kate needed to instill hope in her team.

"More rooftop gardens maybe?" Ann said. "Which require water," Kate countered which was also in short supply. "We may need our cars and go farther out. Long Island perhaps? The Hamptons? Those people are rich; they may have what we don't," Ann suggested. "I'll talk to Montgomery in the morning. Maybe he knows something we don't. But what I need now is some sleep. See you in the morning. We hit that hotel again, I want what's in that basement." Kate was thankful she'd been able to keep up her workout regimen to keep in shape. She was pretty sure it was why she was able to still work hard.

Ann had confided in her why she was in such great shape as well. Kate was thinking back on that day as she crawled into her tent and stripped down after brushing her teeth with a tiny amount of toothpaste and no water.

Kate had understood why both of them had gravitated towards each other. They had both lost everyone close to them. It had made them sisters and they acted like it. For that they were both thankful.


	2. Chapter 2

**CH2**

Kate woke the next morning and stretched before choosing what to wear today and hanging up what she had worn the day before so it could air out. That was another thing about life these days, she didn't get to wash her clothes much and even when she did it was just as fast as when taking a shower. So much so that everyone had learned to wash when they showered. Today, however, wasn't one of those days for her.

She emerged from her tent to find Ann waiting. "Sleep well?" Ann asked her. "Well enough. Ready?" Kate holstered her service weapon after checking it. Both of them were scheduled to clean their weapons tomorrow. That was one good thing about being in a precinct, there were lots of gun cleaning kits. What they didn't have the benefit of was the use of the shooting range. That area had been demolished and turned into sleeping space. They didn't have the excess rounds to spare for practice anyway.

Once downstairs they met up with their team members and headed out after checking in with Captain Montgomery. They took a slightly different route to reach the same location. "We're searching for the entrance to the basement this time." She really wanted that basement. She had a feeling about it. "We haven't cleared the upper floors yet," Holiwell countered. "And more sheets and such aren't high on our list of things to find. There's a basement in this building and we're going to find it."

The other four teamed up while Kate went alone as the worked their way into the burnt out portion of the building. Problem was the stairs to the basement could be in any of the small shops that used to be here. It was the burnt out remains that made everything difficult for all of them.

It was too dangerous for them to call out to each other. Being stealthy was paramount, still walking in this mess meant noise. From what she could tell she was in a small clothing shop based on what she was seeing. Because of this she had her eyes open for anything. Kate stopped and lifted a charred board and found what to her was a gold mine. The plastic was a little crinkled from the heat but it looked like the three panties inside weren't damaged. They weren't her size but surely one of the women could use them, so they went into her backpack. She looked for more but it looked like these had fallen and been saved from the flames while everything else wasn't.

Kate made it into the back room where she found that this area hadn't been hit as hard from the fire. Here she found a lot of sewing items that went into her backpack. So far it was a good start. Also back here were two doors. Based on the construction of the doors, she was betting the one on the rear wall led outside. The other was a lot cheaper-looking and was an interior door.

She checked it over first and ran her fingers around the edges searching for anything that didn't belong there. The door knob wasn't lockable which made her hope it wasn't just a closet. She carefully opened the door with her weapon ready. What she found in front of her was a small landing that went to the left and down. _'YES!'_ she told herself in her head. However, a noise behind her made her turn. She caught sight of a man who had what looked like a mop handle that he stabbed into her belly, causing her to double over and fall backward into the stair landing.

Another person came charging up the stairs and knocked her weapon away as she was hit in the belly again by the guy with the handle. A solid strike to her head and Kate's world went black.

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Her eyes fluttered open and she realized that her belly ached as though she'd been punched and her head hurt. Then she remembered how she'd gotten to be like this. She lifted up her head and mustered her reserves to launch an attack. However, what she found was the first guy lying dead in a pool of blood. Another much like him was lying dead in the doorway and she took him to be the one who hit her in the head.

However, it was the person still standing that had her attention. He was tall, maybe 6'-2" tall. He was well-built with broad shoulders and was dressed all in black from head to toe. She took a more careful look. He was wearing some kind of armored vest, black pants that looked painted on showing off his muscular legs. The shirt under the vest was also skintight and displayed his powerful arms.

What had her attention at the moment was watching him sheathe a really long silver knife. There were three more of them just like it on either side of his chest. She looked and saw he was wearing a solid black mask. The mask wasn't a head mask, it was strictly a face mask. It had light silver or gray arched eyebrows, a thin mustache as well as a van dyke beard that she'd remembered seeing in a portrait. His eyes were covered and all she saw was what looked like a honey comb that was slightly reflective.

"Who're you?" Her mind was still a little foggy. "Who? Who is but the form following the function of what and what I am is a man in a mask," the voice answered softly, far softer than she thought based on his appearance. "I can see that," she snapped and took a quick look for her weapon. "Of course you can. I am not questioning your powers of observation. I am merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is," the man in black countered. Then he quickly turned his head which gave Kate a chance to reach for her service weapon.

Lifting it up and pointing it at him, she realized he was gone. A moment later Ann Hastings took his place. "KATE!" Ann Hastings said softly and stepped over the dead bodies to help her to stand. "What happened?"

"I found it." She nodded toward the basement stairs. "Then someone I didn't see shoved a mop handle in my belly. Him, I think." Kate pointed at the man with the pole laying nearby. "Then someone came charging up the stairs and that's the last thing I remember." She was furious with herself. Ann reached out a hand to help her stand.

"These two have been cut deeply and stabbed," L.T. informed everyone. "Yeah, there was someone else. He was dressed all in black with a black mask and knives," Kate grudgingly admitted. Ann grinned. "So a secret admirer huh?" Ann beamed at her. "Oh, shut up," she grumbled. She had been ambushed and she was still pissed off. "Fine, but next time you see him, ask him if he has a brother and if you don't want him, send him my way." Ann was still beaming till she leaned in and placed her lips next to Kate's ear. "It's been a long time." Ann hadn't gotten laid since she found her boyfriend that she loved like no one else was dead. "I hear you," Kate agreed softly. Sure the place was full of men, but none of them even remotely interested either of them. Which meant neither of them had had sex in what felt like ages. "Let's find out what we've got." She lifted her weapon and took out her flashlight.

Kate started down the stairs shining her light on the treads looking for trip wires or even a loose board. This was no time to break something since doctors were nowhere to be found.

Downstairs they found a two-man crib that was filthy. "Jackpot!" Ann was smiling wide when her light landed on jar after jar as well as a few cans. "Spread out, let's see what we've got," she ordered and they start filling their backpacks.

"Why were they sleeping down here instead of upstairs?" she questioned quietly. After all there was a perfectly serviceable hotel with sheets, pillows, and beds to chose from. "I think they were." L.T. held up a well-used hotel towel.

"Pack up and let's move. I don't want to be caught down here. Remember to strip the bodies on our way out." Maybe they had nice enough shoes that someone could use along with what they were wearing.

With full backpacks and makeshift bags that held clothes, shoes, and other items, they worked their way back slowly toward the precinct. When they got there the place was buzzing and they hadn't even shown anyone what they had found. "What's going on?" Ann asked as Kate shook her head having no idea. Once upstairs they found the 4th floor just as excited. They dropped their prizes on some desks. "Be right back." Kate went to Montgomery's office. "We've got some food, a little water, shoes, and some clothes." Oddly enough, it didn't make him nearly as happy as she thought it would. "What's up, sir?"

Ann and the others just watched and didn't bother inventorying what they had brought back. Eventually Kate came back to them smiling. "Our ham radio picked up something. Apparently the government still exists and they've been busy using the military. They're loading up a number of boats and sending them to New York. Water tanks, diesel fuel, food, and other things. Enough boats carrying 12,000 tons of material." She didn't really know all that was coming.

Ann started dancing in place. She squealed and then hugged Kate who was still smiling and hugged her back. "What are we going to do with it all?" L.T. asked since that was a really heavy load. "We're relocating, all of us. Us, the people across the street, everyone. We're going to be taking over the port where it will be stopping. The water and fuel tanks we get to keep till next time. As to the rest, we have two days to unload before the boats leave, empty or not. The plan is for it to come back in a year. Yearly supplies to the major cities if they can keep it up." Ann danced again while the guys hugged each other and fist-bumped.

"Our new job is to go to the port tomorrow and begin securing it. Montgomery's going to load up everyone into the cars and trucks that we still have and get there the next day. He's already got them packing to load up tomorrow. Our first job is to pack up what we have and either take it with us or leave it to get loaded later."

"Let's get packing." Ann clapped and rubbed her hands and headed upstairs to the shower level where the women were camped. "Pack up guys, we're moving. I'll see you three at dinner."

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Montgomery told the three teams of five that would be going what he wanted them to do. "First recon as much of the space as possible. Expect the place to be big and far more than you three can secure. Find a spot and secure that area. We'll all be there before sunset and spend the night in what you have found. After that we'll spread out and secure the entire site. We'll push or pull everything we can to create another border as much as we can. We have a month before our boats arrive; we need the entire site to be secure by then. That many boats will be incredibly long and noisy. Don't get any ideas that rationing will be lifted. There's no guarantee that another round of boats will show up in one year or even how big it will be." Roy left off _'If this group shows up at all.'_

"Pick up your weapons and get moving," Roy ordered. All fifteen of them stopped to pick up either an AR-15, or Ithaca 37 or Mossberg 590 shot guns along with three extra clips or a box of extra shells. This was in addition to their service weapons that were all 9mm but varied between Sig Sauer P226, Glock 17 or Glock 19, and their three extra clips.

Even now Kate was in charge since she had seniority over everyone in this group. Plus she had grown up in New York City and had spent her career in the 12th Precinct. "It's going to be late by the time we get there. Unless we run across a gold mine, like a restaurant that hasn't been looted yet..." Like that was going to happen this late in the game. "We keep moving. I don't want us to be doing recon and finding a safe place just as everyone else shows up. Let's move." She lifted up her AR-15 and started down the stairs.

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It had taken them time to get from Manhattan to the Bronx. South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) to be precise. The place was huge and they stood no chance of securing all of it in just a few hours. Atlantic Basin, Bay View Marina, Brooklyn Army Terminal, and Mill Basin Wharf.

Just getting there meant going over one of the bridges that they had to take like an army squad in WWII. Bridges were choke points and the perfect location for an ambush. This late in the game they were all on the lookout for gangs of people who had gotten together. Let alone the city gangs that might still exist. So far they hadn't seen anyone, however, they did notice that if Montgomery came this way he had his work cut out for him. A lot of cars would need to be cleared off of the road.

The entire site was massive and even now the huge parking lot out front was filled with cars. This particular area couldn't handle cargo container ships. That was another section of the New York Port.

They were forced to move forward one or two cars at a time after entering the area through the 39th Street Gate. As they started reaching the first of three large buildings, what none of them knew was that the building they were headed for was the J-1 Shed, across from it was the N-Shed which was half the size, while the building next to it further out on the dock was the J-2 Shed.

One quick look told Kate they couldn't clear and hold the J-1 Shed. Unfortunately there was a wide open space between the J-1 and the N-Sheds. It forced her to backtrack and cross a much smaller opening, one person at a time till they were on the outer end of the smaller N-Shed, even though the J-2 Shed was the smallest of the three.

Kate gestured to the two that had AR-15s. "Backtrack to the cars and cover the large open space between the two buildings. The rest of us will go down this side. ... And watch your backs." The N-Shed was on one side and water on the other. The next dock over was filled with cars and a few cargo containers. With no buildings it meant no one on that side had the high ground over them.

She sent everyone two at a time. A shotgun out in front followed by an AR-15 till she ran out of AR-15s. This side had a number of doors with windows high up while the other side of the building had nothing but loading doors (18'x18' roll-up doors).

She was on the closest end with her AR-15 along with three shotguns. Ann took middle with her three shotgun-toting men, while all the way to the end was an AR-15 and four shotgun-toting men. She held up her arm and when she lowered it they opened up a door and started entering to clear it and secure it for when Montgomery showed up.

The second they did everything went straight to hell. Kate heard gun fire from what she determined to be hand weapons inside the building. However, she also heard an explosion outside.

Two guys outside heard a metal sound that scared them shitless and then heard it bouncing their way. Both of them ran a different direction from each other but circled around, followed soon after by having the car they were hiding behind blow up quite spectacularly. A gun fight quickly erupted outside along with the one inside. Kate heard and felt rounds just missing her. She hunkered down behind cases and equipment that were stored inside the building. And she and her team returned fire.

It didn't help any to yell out _"NYPD!"_ Being in the police didn't mean much these days and only people that didn't have weapons listened to you. Everyone else was part of a gang that would attack anyone to stay alive.

Kate motioned for two of her men to go one direction to try and flank whomever it was. She motioned for the other to watch straight ahead while she went toward the center team. Just as she was almost behind another crate she took a round to the shoulder which caused her to crash to the ground. She bit her lip to keep from crying out and alerting her attacker that she was injured and he now had an opportunity to advance on her. She was writhing in pain.

Outside one of the AR-15 cops was down and was about to take a shot to his head when suddenly a knife showed up in the would-be shooter's throat. The cop twisted his head to see where it had come from and caught a glimpse of someone in black who actually had a black cape. While he struggled to a position so he could fire his weapon, the shooting outside stopped and he never saw the man dressed in black running for the N-shed.

Kate had managed to sit up with her back to the crate and gave up her AR-15. She pulled out her service weapon and tried to watch each side. She suddenly took a round in her right leg. She was able to return fire and watched the guy who had just shot her fall. Another round hit her same leg only lower down.

A man appeared at her corner carrying a hand weapon; he stepped up and aimed his weapon at her head. She froze, partly because she was watching her life flash before her eyes and partly from blood loss. It looked like she was going to die quickly, quickly enough that she would never know she was dead.

Then the man fell over onto her legs which hurt like a son of bitch. The last thing she saw was the large silver knife sticking out of his back then she didn't see anything more.


	3. Chapter 3

**CH3**

Kate struggled to open her eyes; it was all shadows till her eyes started to adapt. The place was weird, really weird. There was something stuck in her arm and she traced the line up to a pair of plastic bags hanging next to her. One was red and the other was clear. She tried to make her lips work and mouthed _"Hospital?"_ Then her eyes slipped shut and she succumbed to sleep.

Later she blinked her eyes open and found that it was a bit dark, but there was light shining in through a partially open door. She waited for her eyes to adjust and started looking around. Moving to look around little only caused pain which made her cry out and brought a touch of tears to her eyes.

The light also increased as the door opened wider and someone walked in. When he got close enough Kate recognized him. "Who are you?" she asked him again. "The man in a mask," she answered for him. But since she couldn't see his face she didn't know if he was grinning or not. She simply chose to believe that he was.

"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition! The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me ...V," he added after hesitating.

"V?" she whispered, a little confused. She watched him bow graciously; it was very old school like someone bowing to the Queen of England in some classic movie. "At your service." And she watched him straighten up. Then he knelt down close and looked over the bandage on her upper thigh and his hands caused a twinge of pain. From there he looked at the bandage on the same leg that encased her calf. Once again his hands caused a twinge of pain. She let him lean over her and look at the bandage that was on her shoulder. "Ideas do not bleed, they do not feel pain, they do not love, …ideas are bulletproof." He stood back up and looked down at her.

"I'm not an idea," she told him quite obviously since she had three holes in her. "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person, give him a mask and he will tell you the truth," he countered. "Oscar Wilde," she fired back. "Very good, I see you like to read. Most books don't lie like man does. The lies he is willing to tell others and himself."

"Says the man in a mask," Kate retorted. "Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask is an idea, and ideas are bulletproof," he responded and she closed her eyes since this short conversation had tired her out. "Sleep Detective, breakfast will be waiting in the morning." She didn't see him standing over her as she yielded to sleep yet again.

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Blearily she opened her eyes and found not much had changed. There was a little light visible through the partially open door. She decided not to move since it brought such pain last time. She'd been shot three times. Her job had been dangerous enough before. Before, the bad guys had been easy to single out; now far too many were bad guys. And they most likely didn't used to be that except life today made them into one.

The door opened wide allowing more light in. She watched him quietly move into her room, placed what she was sure a TV tray table next to her bed, and set a plate of something on it. The smell alone made her stomach growl in a serious display of how empty it was and had been for a while.

"Her drink." She watched him briefly snap his fingers, hang his head, and retreat from the room. The mouthwatering smell had her attempting to sit up which naturally caused her pain because her shoulder was involved in the movement. It promptly told her what it thought of her action.

"You're awake, ...good." He set down a coffee cup that gave off an aroma that made her eyes tear up. _'COFFEE! ..._ _R_ _eal coffee!'_ Kate's mind screamed at her and she tried to sit up no matter what her shoulder told her. There was liquid gold in that cup! "Easy Detective, go slowly." He moved in and supported her injured shoulder till she was sitting with both of her legs hanging over the side of the bed, her toes just barely touching the floor. Once she was up, so to speak, since she was bent over, he retreated to a wall, flipped a switch, and the room lit up brightly.

Her mouth fell open. "Electricity!?" She looked up and gritted her teeth from the action, however, it afforded her a better look at the room. She couldn't see all of it because she didn't dare twist her body to look behind her, but what she did see were books. Lots and lots of books. There were bookshelves that were filled with books. They in turn had books stacked on top of those books with books stacked one on top of the other on the floor in front of the bookcases.

The room itself had wallpaper and heavily ornate crown molding along the edge of the ceiling. The kind of crown molding not seen even before things went bad. The floor was tile, really large 24" x 24" tiles that looked like they had a coating over them and polished to a bright shine.

He lifted up the table and placed it in front of her. "Bon appétit ." He stood off to one side. Kate really was ready to cry. In front of her, she was sure, were two breakfast sausages, a piece of toast that had the center cut out and in the middle was a cooked egg. AN EGG, for Chrissake. Next to that were scrambled eggs. He had even provided her with salt and pepper shakers. Spices had been used up she didn't know how long ago. And then there was the coffee cup that she reached for, held it beneath her nose, and breathed in deeply. The smell alone almost produced an orgasm. It was even hot! She sipped it and felt it burn all the way down her throat. The caffeine hit her system instantly and she drank as the tears she hadn't noticed were falling just kept coming.

It took a lot of will power to set the coffee cup down, pick up a fork, and start eating her breakfast. There were even spices on her egg-in-the-hole toast. She moaned while she chewed. Kate looked up at him as he just stood there with his arms crossed over his chest smiling down at her, or so she thought. It was difficult to tell since he was wearing a mask.

"This is _so_ good." And she stuffed another forkful into her mouth. "I'm glad." Just then a dog that she guessed weighed in at sixty pounds came waltzing in. He was tall, all red, kind of had a Labrador head, and had a massive amount of thick, just combed, red hair hanging below the body. While the top and head had short hair.

"You have a dog!?" She gave up eating her food, drinking her coffee, and watched the dog amble right up to her. He stuck his nose into her allowing her to rub his face, scratch his ears, and try and work her way to his body, petting and scratching all the way. The smile that was on her face made him melt. She was likely the most beautiful woman he had seen in a really long time but her smile had turned him into a puddle of goo.

Kate was still smiling and petting the dog who was soaking up the attention. "What's his name?" She looked up at him while continuing to pet him. _"Her_ name is Jasmine," he informed her. "My apologies Jasmine." She smiled wide and kissed her head. "You want a piece of toast?" She reached for her not yet finished egg-in-the-hole toast and broke off a tiny piece. She didn't miss seeing him quickly unfold his arms. "Provided your father approves." She glanced up at him and saw him nod and recross his arms across his chest.

Jasmine wolfed it down without tasting it and Kate went back to petting, scratching, and kissing her head. "Go find your toy, Jaz," he told her and she watched Jasmine perk up and scramble out of the room at a dead run hearing her nails scrape across the tile floor.

"Better hurry and finish before she comes back." She practically inhaled what little was left and had just finished her incredible cup of coffee when Jasmine came trotting back into the room and went straight to Kate with what looked like a stuffed squirrel. She watched him pick up her tray and leave with it allowing her room to reach out with her good arm to take the toy out of Jaz's mouth. "You like to play don't you?" she cooed at her and tossed her toy out the door which had Jasmine scrabbling to go get it.

After Jaz brought it back Kate tried to wrestle it out of her mouth except she put too much energy into it and her shoulder screamed at her. She cried out in pain and reached for her shoulder. Jasmine dropped her toy, put her head in Kate's lap, and looked up at her occasionally. He rushed back into the room and found her clutching her shoulder with Jasmine's head in her lap. "Outside Jaz, you can visit her again tomorrow." The dog looked up at her and then walked out of the room to parts unknown.

"You should be sleeping, you lost a lot of blood." He helped her lay back down. It gave her a chance to look behind her and what she saw shocked her. There had to be hundreds and hundreds of books stacked up from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. Nothing but book after book. Some of them looked really, really old. "You like books." She stated the obvious. "And I suppose you've read all of these," she teased since it would take years to read that many books. "I have actually. Perhaps when you're better you can try and catch up to me." She turned her head to look at him yet all she saw was the mask. The words sounded like banter or maybe flirting but she couldn't see his eyes.

"A challenge!" Kate accepted for reasons that escaped her. "We'll just have to see Detective." He actually tucked her into bed and she hadn't even noticed till he was done. "How do you know I used to be a detective?" It had been quite some time since she had been a homicide detective. He simply tapped her ID on the table next to her bed. That was when she noticed that right next to her ID was her Glock and all three clips. He even left it as he headed for the door. "Get some sleep Detective. ...Jaz will inform me when you awake again." He turned off the light and partially closed the door plunging her room into twilight.

He either didn't care that she had access to her weapon, didn't think she could reach it, or didn't think she could use it. Perhaps he was sure in his ability to take it from her given her present condition. Still she closed her eyes with a stomach that, for once in a very long time, wasn't complaining at her.

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He was sitting in what accounted for his living room with his mask off and was thinking when Jasmine came up with her toy in her mouth asking him to play with her. With lightning speed he reached out, snatched it from her mouth,and teased her with it for a moment before throwing it and watching her race after it. She came back with it, played keep-away until she let him win, and then raced after it, bringing it back and starting all over again.

"I need to get to work Jaz. Go watch our guest while I'm gone." He slid his last knife into place and watched Jasmine amble off towards her bedroom. Satisfied, he swirled in place and let his cape fly out before striding over to a hidden doorway. He stepped inside and pressed where he wanted to go and he was off. He reached his designated target in under a minute, walked out, and made his way to his destination. Pulling out a device he soon ascended to a nearby roof to watch them work. He watched as teams went from car to car over and over again, siphoning whatever gasoline they had and taking it back to N-Shed.

Those same cars were towed into place using the truck in which they had arrived. Intrigued, he watched as they didn't just make a wall which made him nod approvingly. If they had created a wall it would give the enemy a place to hide behind while they would be trapped inside their building. Instead they were creating a maze that actually had many pathways that likely only they knew about. He was impressed. Still why move here? Granted the water gave them a barrier that wasn't easily breached anymore, at least not without a boat and even he didn't have one of those. Not that he wanted one at the moment. Besides, the kind and size of boat he would want would have more in common with the word "yacht."

He pulled out a small bottle of water while he watched and drank it dry before putting it back. He watched them for hours as well as the area around them. He saw nothing of import so he jumped off the roof, pulled out and fired his device, and slowly descended the last few feet. Then he retracted the cable, made his way over to the hidden door and stepped inside. A minute later he was home.

From there he went into a side room. This room had close to thirty monitors in it that allowed him to start searching all over. Satisfied for now that nothing needed his involvement, he took off his cape and moved into his bedroom where the lights came on automatically. He stripped and changed into a pair of shorts and a simple t-shirt. He smiled behind his mask at the t-shirt he had specifically chosen to wear.

Moving into the kitchen he started work on dinner. "Jaz!?" He first heard and then finally saw her come running into his mini kitchen and sit down. "Is she asleep?" He watched her sneeze. "I'll take that as a no." After taking something out of the freezer and placing it in the microwave to defrost, he headed for her bedroom. Sure enough she was awake and actually had a book in her hand. She was squinting badly while trying to read it. "My apologies for being gone so long. I'll set the motion detector to turn on the lights for you." He moved to the panel, made an adjustment, and then waved his hand causing the lights to come on.

Jasmine went right over and placed her muzzle on the bed and looked at Kate. "She's taken a shine to you. Though to be honest, you're the first person outside of me that she's ever met." That actually told Kate a lot. "She doesn't get out much? Not that there are a lot of people to meet anyway and a lot of those would likely turn her into..." She stopped speaking since she herself had found out that she had eaten dog. It had caused her to be more careful with what she ate even if it was all there was to eat. Because of the state of affairs, a dog might be food but to her a dog was a pet, a member of the family, not that she had a family.

Just then Jasmine lifted her head, put her front paws on the bed, and stretched out to try and reach her. Kate gave up on her book and petted her. "If you can stay awake long enough I was planning on starting dinner." Her growling stomach answered for her.

"You stay here Jaz and I'll make dinner. It's been a while since I cooked for more than one." He walked out. "So who is he Jaz? I seriously doubt V is his name." She tried to move a little which only resulted in her hissing in pain. This time it was both her shoulder and leg. Jasmine whimpered at her distress. "I'm fine girl, it just hurts."

An hour later he walked into the room carrying the TV tray and a plate that was still sizzling, only to find Jasmine lying on the floor and his guest asleep. He was conflicted. It was best to eat it while still sizzling and yet she needed her rest. However, she also needed food so he set it all up and woke her. "Hmm." Kate smiled but wasn't awake yet. "Care to lend a hand Jaz?" He backed off allowing her to get up on her hind legs, reach her head in, and start licking Kate's face. She abruptly awoke and was batting at whatever the irritant was. Then she was awake enough to notice the dog in her face with her owner standing behind her.

Her mind said he was smiling at her but it was all hidden away behind that mask. "I brought you dinner and thought you might actually like to eat it." She looked past the dog to the table that had a plate and a glass of water on it. It was then that she heard the food still sizzling. "Fajitas!?" She was shocked. She hadn't seen anything like it in forever.

He helped her to sit as she did her best using one hand to scoop it onto a flour tortilla and then roll it one handed. She watched him start to walk out. "You're not eating?" He stopped, turned to look at her, and wished for so many things. "No." And he walked out.

"Was it something I said?" Kate looked at Jasmine who was watching her every movement.

She had already noticed that she was undressed down to her panties and her bra. She found that she didn't actually care, but it felt like she had been wearing the same panties and bra for a little while now. Granted she didn't get to do laundry very often but at least airing them out helped.

She was asleep when he came in to gather up the empty plate. He left her to enjoy her slumber.

He stood in the kitchen cleaning up, wondering what he was doing. Having her here was a shot in the arm and he liked it, but it also left him in deep sorrow over what his life had turned into. All these years and this was what his life had become. Trapped down here beneath his mask.


	4. Chapter 4

**CH4**

It had been almost a week and Kate's wounds were feeling better. V had helped her to a bathroom that actually had flushing toilets and the air was cool. It was her first look outside of her room and she had gotten a quick glimpse of where she was but it didn't really tell her much.

She had also found that Jasmine took to sleeping on the tile floor in her room till Kate managed with some difficulty to take the comforter from her bed and bundle up on the floor. Jaz was sleeping on that now.

Something woke her and she watched Jasmine scrabble out of the room, her nails raking the tile floor. Kate was used to the sound, it was a fight. V was fighting against someone. She gingerly got out of bed, hissing at the pain in her leg and shoulder. She leaned over the bedside table, picked up her weapon, and limped, hobbled her way over to her door. Looking out the door she didn't see anything amiss and yet the noise persisted. If anything it got louder and more intense. It sounded like his voice and whatever it was he was heavily involved.

Weapon in hand, Kate lurched out the door and passed the bathroom which was amazingly large for a home. It had five toilets with partitions on one wall, four wall-mounted sinks on the opposite wall, and a glass door that she hadn't yet seen past. It had a certain public feel to it since the toilets were all flush valve and not tank type like in a house.

She limped around the corner and stopped dead in her tracks. Right in front of her in a depressed area were tanker cars. Car after car off into the distance inside a tunnel. All sitting on railroad tracks.

The place was curved and the walls and ceiling were all tile while the floor was polished concrete. There was even a beautiful, intricate, tile mural in the ceiling between the arches that went from side to side and she noticed that the lights came on when she entered the space. Each arch was in two different color tiles. Green on the outside and beige in the middle. It was lovely. Then there were the paintings and statues everywhere. They were hanging on the wall, leaning up against the wall and then there were the numerous statues and busts.

She was doing her best to take it all in while searching for V who sounded like he was still in a fight. She came up behind a large marble statue that likely weighed tons and peeked around it and found him wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, t-shirt, his mask, and tennis shoes. His legs looked powerful, his arms were muscled but not overly so, however, it was his chest that had Kate's attention. He was a stud and he was fighting alright. He had a sword in his hand and was attacking a suit of medieval armor. He was dancing all over the place hitting it with his weapon. "Have at you! ...Think you can defeat me? Fool that you are, I am a Musketeer. I am the King's Guard! Take this, ...and this. ...Oh, think you can sneak up behind me?" She watched him dance all over the place and spin in place and strike the suit of armor.

Finally V lunged forward with his weapon and hit the breast plate. The sword went up into the head, cut the chin strap, forced the helmet off the suit, and it fell to the floor. She snorted which got Jasmine's attention who had just been sitting there watching her master practice his swordsmanship on a suit of armor. It also got his attention. He turned and lunged towards Kate with his weapon out until he saw her standing there with her service weapon in both hands. Jasmine barked twice and ran to her, happy to see her.

"Detective!?" He whipped his sword around to hide it behind his back which she found amusing especially since she had a gun. "You shouldn't be up on that leg." He put the sword in the gauntlet of his opponent and started walking to her. "Let's get you back into bed before you rip open my stitches. I'm rather proud of them even if I do say so myself." He fought to control his heart and his urges since she was standing there in just panties and bra. Even though she could really use a shower, she was still the most beautiful creature he had seen in countless years.

"No. Please, can we sit somewhere? I'm tired of that room," she requested. "As you wish." V stepped over to her and put an arm around her. She swallowed hard because his muscled body was next to hers and she could smell his sweat that had her wanting to sit in his lap and run her hands over that chest.

He took her around a corner past his armor stand into an alcove that was actually quite large. It overlooked another opening that she took to be stairs leading up. The alcove had a French antique sofa along with a pair of chairs. Not far away was a baby grand piano and one wall had a kitchen, complete with all of the appliances. She also noticed that the tanker cars continued down the tracks and around the bend past where she could see. There was obviously a walkway on the other side of the cars.

V let her sit on the sofa. "May I get you something to drink?" He turned to the kitchen. Kate couldn't help but notice that he didn't try to take her weapon from her or even ask her to put it away. She decided to hide it behind her back where she could reach it if she wanted to. "I'd kill for a beer." She huffed out a laugh and watched him open the large side-by-side refrigerator. He took something out and handed it to her. Her mouth fell open. It was a cold bottle of Miller Lite! She couldn't wait to get the top off but she moved her bad arm and cried out in pain. He took the bottle and opened it for her then sat down in one of the chairs. She gave it a taste test and moaned at the cold flavor. Then she chugged half the bottle. "I'm in love," she sighed and he chuckled. "You're not drinking," she pointed out. "I'll find something to drink later." Especially since it meant he would need to take his mask off.

"What would you like to know?" V asked her and Kate actually had a lot of questions; foremost was why the mask? However, something told her he wasn't ready to answer that one. Next in importance was where was she? But she decided on something neutral. "What's in the tankers?" She used the hand that had her beer in it to point that direction.

If he was surprised by her question he didn't show it and again she cursed his mask. "You promised to tell the truth." She reminded him of one of his earlier statements. "Very good Detective." V was impressed that she had been listening. "I have an inventory of each and every car, even the ones you can't see from here." She hadn't really expected him to answer her question. "Just the footnotes will do fine." He smiled under his mask.

"Each car is fifty-nine feet in length with an average overall width and height of fifteen feet and each tank holds thirty thousand gallons. ...One holds orange juice, several hold fresh water, most hold diesel fuel, and several hold home heating oil. Farther down the tracks are refrigerated cars along with a number of box cars that hold a countless list of items. Chief among them is toilet paper." He tried to make a joke and she laughed. It was one of many things that was in short supply in the precinct.

"May I ask where we are?" Kate looked around and could easily tell they were underground. "This is an old abandoned train station deep under the city. The walkways have been caved in for several hundred feet as have the tunnels on each end." That told her she was trapped down here and yet he had somehow gotten her here, so there must be a way out. Suddenly the lights behind her went out. "Power outage?" She was concerned about being trapped in the dark. Again V smiled behind his mask. "Motion sensors. No need to have the lights on if there is no one in that area." That made sense to her. It was brilliant actually.

"You have water, fuel and I'm guessing an emergency generator somewhere." It wasn't really a question. "There are two Caterpillar C32 TA, V-12, 4-stroke water-cooled diesel generators one of which is 100% backup. The controls alternate between them every month to make sure one isn't overused while the other does nothing." She was impressed, he'd obviously planned ahead. Still except for Jasmine who was laying next to him on what looked like a large doggie bed, he was alone here. "The paintings, sculptures, jukebox."

"I did some five finger shopping before moving down here. Care to arrest me Detective?" V was grinning behind his mask as he held his hands out for her to slap a pair of cuffs on. She smiled and shook her head. "Who's going to make me breakfast and I don't think Jasmine would be happy with me if I did." At the mention of her name the dog lifted her head looking between the two of them.

He stood with Jasmine right behind him and moved over to the jukebox. Kate watched his fingers slide down the buttons until he chose one. She could hear the machine loading the record even from there. Suddenly the music was everywhere. It was only then that she noticed the little speakers that were mounted on walls all over the place.

 _Now you say you're lonely_

 _You cry the whole night thorough_

 _Well, you can cry me a river, cry me a river_

 _I cried a river over you_

 _Now you say you're sorry_

 _For bein' so untrue_

 _Well, you can cry me a river, cry me a river_

 _I cried a river over you_

 _You drove me, nearly drove me out of my head_

 _While you never shed a tear_

 _Remember, I remember all that you said_

 _Told me love was too plebeian_

 _Told me you were through with me and_

 _Now you say you love me_

 _Well, just to prove you do_

 _Come on and cry me a river, cry me a river_

 _I cried a river over you_

"That was lovely ...and sad." Even her voice sounded sad as she sang it. She wondered why he selected it. Then she watched him press another button and went back to sit down.

 _When the nightingale sings in the deep of the night_

 _And the robin he sleeps on the wing_

 _Hear the toll of the bell ringing out all is well_

 _And the city's golden lights shining on_

 _Ride the long black train_

 _Ride the long black train_

 _It takes us all the black train_

 _Take me home black train_

 _Ride the long black train_

 _Ride the long black train_

 _It takes us all the black train_

 _Take me home black train_

 _And the shadows we pass turns my soul into glass_

 _And the streets that I walk are all tamed_

 _Hear the toll of the bell ringing out all is well_

 _And the city's golden lights shining on_

 _Ride the long black train_

 _Ride the long black train_

 _It takes us all the black train_

 _Take me home black train_

 _And the briar and the rose in the churchyard they grow_

 _'Neath the clock tower tall all entwined_

 _And the raven he flies round the oak as she sighs_

 _And the candles they call out my name_

 _To ride the long black train_

 _Ride the long black train_

 _It takes us all the black train_

 _Take me home black train_

Kate still had a lot of questions but decided on a big one that wasn't so personal. "Do you know what happened? I mean what happened out there." She'd heard a number of opinions on what had happened but no one seemed to really know. "The past can't hurt you anymore, not unless you let it." V sat back in his chair and thought back to the days before. He sighed. "Do you remember the dispute over islands in the China Sea? Specifically the un-inhabitable rocks that Japan called Senkaku and Daioyu by China?" She nodded.

"And you remember the attack by North Korea into South Korea that everyone saw coming? The North was crushed but not before they launched every missile they had directed at Japan mostly. The longer range missiles all blew up at launch or crashed in the sea." She nodded again. "Japan fought back but they accidentally hit Chinese territory," she added. "Did they?" Did he mean the attack didn't take place or that it wasn't an accident. "What you possibly don't know was that the Chinese had gathered a force with the intention of invading."

Her mouth fell open. Were they truly that stupid? It could easily accelerate to a full-on World War. "Japan?" Surely not. "Japan, Taiwan, doesn't matter. What did happen was someone let a bug loose. Was it North Korea, Japan, China? Was it state sponsored or a crazed individual? Doesn't really matter. It swept across China, into Russia and Japan sent it across to the United States who spread it everywhere else. All that was needed was to come in contact with a contaminated site. Clothing, door handle, ATM machine, even a simple handshake. Then it showed its true colors. It started mutating and people who got immunizations for one type had no defense against the new one. There was nothing to stop it until there wasn't anyone left to infect anymore."

"It appears to mutate based on geography. You, I, and others have an immunity to the North American strain. Come into contact with the African strain, might be a whole new answer. Planes aren't flying, ships aren't sailing to other countries. The various mutated bugs have no way to travel anymore, leaving no one to infect."

"They say that life's a game and then they take the board away," V added. Kate drank the rest of her beer, silently asked for another, and watched him get her one. "One more question," she said. "Just one Detective?" he countered. She smiled. "For now. ...Why did you choose here? Obviously you knew about it and somehow got ready for it." She waved her beer at all of the tanker cars. "The bug moves by touch, what you can't touch doesn't reach you," he stated simply. "But you're alone down here," she murmured. "When I'm down here." He had several hidden ways out and back in.

Kate finished her drink and then popped her jaw yawning. She covered her mouth with her hand and apologized. "We should get you back into bed." He stood, pulled her up, and she swiftly found herself being lifted into his arms. She slipped one arm around his neck and held her service weapon in her hand, laying it on her stomach.

V gently laid her back in bed, carefully took her weapon away from her, and placed it on the table. He noticed her looking at it. "Do you want it back? Perhaps sleep with it under your pillow?" he asked. "I haven't decided yet," she teased and almost wanted a reason to keep it under her pillow. "Should you change your mind perhaps you can convince Jaz to retrieve it for you," he teased in return.

"Jasmine is a good dog. It's been a long time since I've seen a dog," she said. "Our animals are not completely immune much like the rest of us." He tucked her in. "We need to change your bandages tomorrow and make sure your wounds are clean. Not afraid of shots are you?" She shook her head. She wasn't afraid of shots, she simply hated hospitals.

"How many people? ... My last question for today, I promise." V simply smiled beneath his mask. "Six point one billion inhabited the planet at the time; today's world population is somewhere around three point four billion. Though that's just an estimate based on what I know. ...Way down here, all alone with just a dog to keep me company." He grinned widely behind his mask. It also didn't take into account all the people killed since the bug. All the gangs that fought for turf or for what was left. She smiled back as her injuries, being up for the longest time since her shooting, and her two beers were finally taking their toll. She was asleep in moments. "Tomorrow you can answer my questions," he said softly. "Good night Jaz." He petted Jasmine on his way out.

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Ann Hastings was busy boxing everything up that belonged to her best friend. The only friend she had left. She was wiping her tears away with each item that she boxed up. Normally everything that was useful would be divided up amongst the others. Roy had let her box it and keep it for two reasons: first, they hadn't found a body and second, they were expecting boats in a few weeks that would put her meager possessions to shame.

His kindness didn't do anything for her heart, however. In her mind she was alone now and it weighed heavily on her. The last thing she placed in Kate's box was a picture of her parents. Ann was familiar with how Kate lost her mother. She'd been stabbed in an alley a number of years ago, left to bleed out and die. Her father succumbed to the bug that took so very many people, just like it took her fiancé. Bonding with Kate had been her lifesaver.

Roy had promoted her to take over her team even though they would be short one person from now on. Ann noticed that her friend looked so much like her mother. "I'm sorry Mr. and Mrs. Beckett, so very sorry." She choked back the sobs that threatened to overwhelm her.


	5. Chapter 5

**CH5**

 **It is now one week later:**

After talking with V she found out that she had been down there with him for almost two weeks. Well, with him and Jasmine. She was learning to like his company as well as playing with Jasmine. However, she was beginning to miss what she had been doing. She was even starting to dream up ways on how to merge the two together.

Kate was lying in bed when her eyes fell on the clothes V had left for her almost a week ago. It wasn't work appropriate but it was lovely and she had always liked wearing something pretty instead of looking more like a guy. Somehow he'd managed to find a pair of new bras as well as a package of panties. He'd even left her a pair of flip flops and everything actually fit.

She smiled when Jasmine came ambling into her room and got half of her body up on her bed. She petted her and bent to kiss her head. "I take it breakfast is ready." She got a bark in return which made her smile and laugh a bit. "Okay, I'm coming." She began to get up and watched Jasmine lope out of her room, likely to inform V that she had accomplished her task.

She pulled a new pair of panties on along with one of her new bras. Next she worked at getting into her new dress. It was a type of dress she would have bought before the planet went to hell. It was a casual maxi dress made from red, textured, woven fabric with wide-cut short sleeves and a V-neckline. The high waistline transitioned into a billowing maxi skirt with a thigh-high side slit. Kate liked it because she could tease him with a hint of cleavage and the side slit allowed her to show off her long legs when she really wanted to entice him. She wished she could see his face to know if she was getting a reaction from him.

She slipped into her flip flops and headed for his living room – kitchen combo area. She passed by the public toilet and had found out what was beyond that single door. She'd guessed it was a janitor's closet that he had turned into a single large shower. V had wrapped her wounds in plastic to keep the water out. She found shampoo, conditioner, and soap and had taken the longest shower she had in ages. She came out feeling like a woman again. She had even wished for a little make-up.

Her dress flew open as she walked into the kitchen. V had been cooking and he placed a plate before her that had a waffle on it as well as a raft of goodies. It had a touch of butter, some maple syrup, a kiss of powdered sugar, and a few blueberries sprinkled on top. Her eyes opened wide. "Wherever did you get blueberries!?" She couldn't wait to taste them. He simply held up an empty box of muffins that came with their own mini can of real blueberries. Kate didn't question about where the muffins were since she would like to eat those too and simply dug into her waffle. "Please eat something, I promise not to stare or make any snide comments. ...Please!" He had saved her life and done so much for her. He had left her alone when she wanted to read and had sat and talked with her when she wanted company.

She called Jasmine over. "Tell your owner to sit down and eat something." She petted her and quietly pleaded with him. "V, please sit. ...Please." She wanted to see, wanted to know. "You've worn a mask for so long you've forgotten who you are beneath it." She watched as he lowered his head and actually sat down across from her.

V decided to risk it. It had been so long since he had confided with anyone. "There was a moment in time, long ago. Long before even your imagination could dream of. I was an ignorant soldier with dreams of being someone, instead I was a nobody. It was a time when nobility wasn't yet born. I was part of one man's army. I was in the ancient city of Hamoukar in a region surrounding the fledgling city state which was located in what is now northeastern Syria. It was invaded and colonized as part of the expanding realm of the Uruks of southern Mesopotamia."

"We lost and I was struck in the heart ...and did not die." V had just shared the biggest secret of his very existence with her.

Kate stopped eating and stared at him. "Mesopotamia?" She had some knowledge of history and what he was suggesting just wasn't possible. "That was... that was a time..." She trailed off. It just wasn't possible. "The year was 3663 BCE." It was a time so ancient that she couldn't understand, couldn't comprehend it. "BCE?" That wasn't a reference she was familiar with. " **B** efore the **C** ommon **E** ra or better known as **B** efore **C** hrist."

"That's not possible, that would make you..." She tried to do the math quickly. "Five thousand six hundred seventy-four years, five months, and two days." He had been keeping track. Mostly to torture himself over never having died and fearing that he never would. "That's impossible. No one is that old." Kate wasn't sure if she believed him, if she _could_ believe him.

"I pulled the weapon out of my own heart after falling from the blow. I stripped off my clothes, put on the bloody clothes of the enemy, and blended in. Moved from city to city, region to region. At first I simply tried to hide and disappear into the population. My name at the time was Mannum-Ki-Iliya. I've been known and unknown by hundreds of others as I try and hide who and what I am. More recently you would know me as Leonardo da Vinci, Johannes Brahms, King Solomon, Lazarus, Methuselah, Myrddin Emrys better known as Merlin from the Arthurian legend, and countless others. I've gotten very, very good at hiding."

"I presume a detective requires proof." V stood up, moved over to the baby grand piano, and began to flawlessly play Opus 49, No. 4, published in 1868 and widely known as **Brahms' Lullaby**. Kate watched him at the piano and a saw a tear escape his mask as he played. He wasn't sure why he chose this since it brought up old memories of a woman he'd loved and lost long ago. Bertha Faber had been her name. He had loved her deeply and had written this for her. He was forced to let the tear fall because to wipe it away meant removing his mask.

"You play that beautifully but that doesn't make you Brahms. ... And there are drawings, paintings even, of da Vinci," she countered. He ceased playing. "Yes, there are. A good friend was kind enough to allow himself to be painted and immortalized. I've met and outlived so very many people. Watched people from afar, people that I used to call friend or more, die. Time after time, year after year." He stared at the piano keys and didn't see the look of hurt on her face.

"Proof," V offered again as he stood then walked over to the kitchen. He hated this part, but the pain would be brief or so he had learned over the years. He picked up a good-sized sharp knife and turned to face Kate. She instantly knew what he was thinking and before she could stop him, before she could beg him not to, he plunged it hilt-deep into his midsection. She heard the sound of pain it caused. **_"NO!"_** She lunged for his hand as though she could stop what he had already done to himself. "God, no!" She felt the tears roll down her face. She was learning to like him a lot and had just started dreaming about them being more. Now he had killed himself trying to prove who he said he was – is.

He staggered as he pulled the knife out. She could see his blood coating it and watched it drip onto the floor. "Where's your first aid kit?" Kate _had_ to fix him. "Please!" She could hear her voice breaking and the pleading that was in it. She reached out to touch the wounded area and then brought her hands to her mouth. "V, please!"

He hadn't really thought about what her reaction would be, but it wasn't this. He stared at her through the eyes of his mask and looked at what all of his readouts that showed up in front of his eyes told him. She wasn't faking it, she really was concerned and highly agitated.

He took one of her hands in his and with the other lifted up his t-shirt. T-shirts and shorts had been his clothing of choice while she had been there. He was well aware of the impact that his physique had on women. However, the detective had so far proven to be a completely different woman. ...Till now.

He placed her hand on the already healed wound that actually had very little blood on it. She didn't want to look, didn't want to see the wound that would kill him, but she did. What she saw shocked her as she sucked in a breath and held it. Kate pushed his t-shirt up higher and moved her fingers over the smooth skin, not believing what she saw and felt. She looked up at him in complete amazement.

He wasn't going to die! Kate decided it was time to find out. She lifted a hand and actually got a finger on his mask but he took her hand in his and stopped her. She simply looked at him and pleaded with her eyes. "Please, don't hide from me."

It was then that she saw a ring on his finger. A ring that she didn't remember seeing before. Granted she had been looking for a ring on his other hand. A ring that would tell her he was married or had been married. This ring was on his right hand. However, it was the ring itself that now had her attention. "Don't Detective. There are some things that are best left hidden." That took her attention off the ring.

"A man who refuses light will remain in the darkness even by the side of light!" She watched his head jerk just a fraction. "Mehmet Murat ildan." V was impressed. Still he took her hand away from his mask and she didn't fight him.

"I've been many things in my life. Artist, composer, doctor, even a simple house painter. Author, sculptor using marble, even wood using a chain saw. Even ice. ... I was also an engineer. I was trying to invent a new power source. A green one, one that didn't contaminate the air or the planet. I was fully protected but the blast blew my mask off my face."

Kate gasped as her imagination told her what was behind that mask. Did it really matter to her? And how had he gotten past all of her walls so quickly and so completely? "I don't ca..." V interrupted her. "It blew the flesh off of my face and caught my hair on fire. It left me blind for a countless number of years. Once I could see well enough again I built this mask. It isn't just a mask but it helps me to see. Analyze what I see and display the results in front of my eyes. Without it I. am. blind." He shaved by touch with his eyes closed. He did so many things with his eyes closed while his mask was off.

Her heart was already pounding and now it sunk into her stomach. _Blind._ She could deal with that. She could be his eyes. She reached for his mask once more with the intention of removing it. However, V intercepted her hand again. "I'm a homicide detective, or at least I used to be. The cases I used to specialize in came to be called Beckett flavored. I've seen people that have had their abdomens cut open with their intestines hanging out. The result of being baked in a pizza oven. Boiled in cooking oil. Deep fat fried so to speak. Shot in the head with brain matter sprayed all over. Stabbed and lying in a giant pool of their own blood as they bled out."

Kate watched him take his hand off hers and if she could she would smell both of their fears and hear both of their hearts hammering in their chests. At first she tried simply lifting it from his chin but that didn't work. So she stepped nearer, took a closer look, and reached behind his ears. She disconnected something that looked like a wire connector and did the same on the other side. Then she lifted up both arms ignoring the stab of pain that her shoulder gave her, hooked her fingers behind his mask, and found the band that was holding it in place hidden in his hair.

She started lifting and it began to come off. Rick had seen the power in his mask go out when she found the connectors and removed them. It left him blind behind his mask so he closed his eyes. She was about to see that he didn't have much of a face, she didn't need to see what his eyes looked like. It was one of the reasons there weren't any mirrors down there and even when he was up on the surface he avoided them, even with his mask on.

She lifted the mask off his face and was amazed. She placed it on the kitchen counter behind him and raised a hand to run her fingers over his face. She could still see some slightly scarred areas and sections of his face were a little raw looking. He was quite pale thanks to not being out in the sun. But he was handsome. "Open your eyes, ...please." Seeing his eyes might tell her something, confirm what she was thinking and it had her heart pounding wildly. She was scared for the first time like she'd never been scared before. If she was right, she already loved him. Loved his words. V shook his head and blindly reached for his mask.

Kate used her hand on his face to gently turn his head to face her. "Please?" She was thinking of saying that she wasn't afraid, but she was afraid, she was very afraid.

He started to open his eyes and saw the light which was new. Emboldened enough to finish opening his eyes, the first thing he saw without his mask was her face. To say that she was beautiful was an understatement. She rivaled any goddess he or anyone else had ever worshiped. The fact that she had been weeping made his heart sink. It was a look he hated and never wanted to see again so he closed them again.

" _NO, DON'T!_ Your face is healing. It's still a little rough but I like it. Open your eyes ... _Richard_ _Castle."_ She was sure of it now. His eyes snapped open and he stared at her with a look of complete shock on his face. He stammered the word _"H...how?"_

"I was just a kid and my mother dragged me down to one of your book signings. I was bored and was a typical pain in the ass teenager. It's something I'm going to regret till the day I die. There are so many things I wish I could do over or take back and that's one of them. You were nice, asked us questions, signed my mother's book. You even grabbed one of your latest books, signed it, and handed it to me. I tried to give it back since I hadn't paid for it but you refused. It was a day that I've never forgotten.

...You _are_ Richard Castle?" Kate needed to hear it from his lips as she searched his blue eyes. "I had selected the name Richard Alexander Rodgers as my new name but my publisher wanted me to change it. She thought the name I had chosen was too ...something. She finally accepted Castle. A few years later she, my publicist, and everyone else from Black Pawn was dead. Writing books was obviously no longer a viable way to make a living."

"So how did you end up down here?" She didn't understand. "I had learned over the years it was best to find a place, to have somewhere safe to withdraw to. The countless wars that this world has endured told me that another one was probably on the way. Granted, I like everyone else thought it would be nuclear this time."

"I found this place even before I was Richard Castle. I spent years making changes to it. Using a locomotive, and yes I know how to drive one, I pushed all of these tankers down here along with other cars. Found and fixed the generators and built or repaired countless other things. Once I had a way in and out that only I knew about, I proceeded to collapse all of the other entrances. Then I worked at finishing everything else I wanted to do to it."

"Castle, why..." He led her over to a blank wall and she watched him press a pad that she hadn't seen before. It lit up and scanned his finger. Then a door opened and he led her inside. Once there she saw a large counter that had a keyboard and a number of other things, but it was the wall of monitors that intrigued her. When he turned it all on she saw pictures of countless places, only a few that she recognized.

One of them was a harbor. "Is that?" She pointed and watched him bring it up on the center screen. "They're still securing the area to make it hard for people to attack them and they have a little ways to go still," Rick explained. "You've been watching us, ...me." She looked up at him. "I couldn't take my eyes off of you. Then I watched a well-armed gang try to keep what was theirs and I couldn't allow that." She looked at Rick. Had he just said what she thought he did? She also looked at the screen again. "Ann!" She watched her walking the area and directing people what to do.

Kate watched him zoom in on her face. She didn't know how he did that. City surveillance cameras ran on electricity and for the most part, New York didn't have any power. Kate could see determination on her face along with a fair amount of hurt. She looked broken. "Oh, Ann." Kate's heart was breaking yet again. How that was even possible after all the people she had lost surprised her. Had being with V – Rick – had something to do with that? Could she risk having a life again? One with him?

"A friend of yours?" Kate nodded. "The only one I had left after everything. She's like the sister that I never had." It was only then that she really missed her and even that hurt a little. Being there with Rick had had an affect on her, obviously.

"You want to go see her. You can be there in minutes." She launched herself at him and kissed him soundly. At first it was her lips crushed against his, but soon she was kissing him softly while her arms found their way behind his head as her fingers played with the short curls that she found there. He was even kissing her back and she stroked his lips till he parted them and then they were searching each other's mouths.

As much as she wanted to keep kissing him and, if she could screw up enough of her courage, maybe do a lot more, she knew she needed to leave. When she broke from this kiss only to kiss him twice quickly, she turned her head to look at Ann. "Can we go now?" she asked him while watching Ann. "Change clothes if you wish. Get your weapon and we can go." Kate beamed and then she kissed him again and pressed herself into the kiss. She let go of him and ran for her room. If she didn't go now she might not get around to going for hours.

She hurried back dressed as she was only she had her service weapon in one hand and her spare clips in the other. Except Rick was missing so she looked around till she saw him step out of his room. He was dressed in his outfit and had his mask in place again. "You don't need this, not for me." She reached for his mask. "I do for everyone else," he countered and stepped back away from her. It hurt a little and she would consider why that was later. Right now she wanted to get to her friend.

Rick escorted her over to another blank wall and pressed yet another hidden panel. She watched the door open and he walked in leaving space for her. It was about the size of a tiny coat closet. Since it actually helped due to the tight space, she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her head into his broad chest. It made her start thinking about what she wanted to do to his chest later.

She turned her head and watched him lift up a hand to a map that showed up on the closed door. He pressed a space and expanded it by zooming in till he was on a wall in the corner of the building she had been attacked and shot in. Kate felt a movement like being shoved to one side and then there was nothing for a little while. Then she felt the same movement and Rick opened the door. There in front of her were the cars in the giant parking lot.

She stepped outside and looked around. "How did you do that?" She was right on the space she saw on the map. "Was that a Star Trek teleportation thing?" She looked back at him still standing inside the cylinder. "That would be impossible. Do you have any idea just how many cells there are in a human body? Now moving a simple cylinder that has people inside it is another matter entirely. Come back here and place your hand on the wall if or when you want to return to me." Rick closed the door before she could try and convince him to come with her.

" _IF or WHEN?_ Is he serious?" she questioned softly before turning and heading for the door she had entered the first time she and her team had gotten here.


	6. Chapter 6

**CH6**

Kate stepped inside and was immediately spotted. "BECKETT!" Holiwell yelled and walked over to her. He acted like he wanted to hug her but then put out his hand to shake hers. And then he broke down and gave her a quick hug. "We thought you were dead, and where did you get that dress?" He liked it and hadn't seen a woman in a dress like that in a while.

"Beckett!" L.T. hollered followed by someone else and it sounded like her name was being echoed from one end of the building to the other. She soon had a crowd around her as each person greeted her. She blinked back tears. She had no idea she would be missed that much. It had only been three weeks. Okay, three weeks, one day, and some odd number of hours, but who was counting. "I'm going to find Ann, she's going to freak." Holiwell went out the door.

It only took a minute and Kate found herself being hugged by her boss who she was sure had tears in his eyes threatening to break free. "It's good to see you Beckett, we thought sure we'd lost you." Roy backed off. "And just where have you been for three weeks? Modeling agency?" He was commenting about the dress she was wearing. "Not hardly." Actually it had been better than her short stint in a modeling agency, way better. It left her trying to figure out just what to tell her captain. Rick was hiding for a reason and while she didn't want him to be, it wasn't up to her. "I did get lucky though." Kate spread her skirt slit open to show him her bandages in both places.

The door crashed open preventing Roy from saying anything. _"_ _ **KATE!**_ _"_ She had just a second to turn before being overwhelmed by her friend who hugged her tightly and started crying which soon had Kate adding her own tears. It felt so good to see Ann again.

Ann didn't let go of her but backed off just a touch. Enough to place a hand on her cheek. "...I thought you were dead." Ann took her hand back and wiped her tears. "Now start talking. Where the hell have you been?" Ann looked down at her. "And where did you get that dress and even more important, did that place have another one?" Kate laughed. "I don't know where it came from and I don't know if there are more." She answered the last two questions first since they were easier to answer. "DAMN!" Ann cursed her luck. "And you're clean!" Ann ran her hand through Kate's soft, shiny hair, and then leaned it to get a whiff of the perfume-like fragrance. "Is the Ritz open again or something?" Ann wanted in on being this clean.

Then a thought hit her. "What's his name? ... And does he have a brother?" That was when Roy interrupted their reunion. "Let's take this to my office Beckett." He smiled at her which was something Kate and the others hadn't seen for a while. "Yes, sir." Kate started to follow him only to have Ann hug her again and then she walked with an arm around her.

His office turned out to be a crate sitting out in the open though it did actually have a couple of chairs. Kate sat in one while Ann took the other and half of the building gathered round them.

"Let's start with what you remember happening when you got here." She walked him through every order she had given as Roy looked at her team members and saw them nod. "Once inside is when the shooting started which was a bit of a surprise since they had weapons. I took a round in the leg and decided to chase one guy out the door where I ended up taking another one in the same leg followed by one in the shoulder." She made a slight alteration to what happened, and pushed her dress aside to show them her bandaged shoulder.

"After that I don't recall anything until I woke up. I woke up in a small room and found my wounds had been attended to. The first real thing I noticed was when the dog came in..." Ann broke in. "A dog?" Ann questioned. "Irish Setter, her name is Jasmine. She's so sweet and kind, and really smart." Kate was hooked and loved Jasmine but loving her was easy and she gave back unconditional love.

"I'm assuming you've been somewhere for the last few weeks." Roy expected an answer. She decided to tell him the truth, or at least the truth as she understood it now. "I was found by someone who took me to his place and took care of me," she began to explain. "The guy who has a dog?" Ann interrupted Roy who didn't say anything. "And does this person have a name?" he asked. "Richard Castle," she stated matter of factly. "Your favorite author on the planet? That Richard Castle?" Ann's voice was a little loud showing how shocked and maybe a little disbelieving she was. "The very one." She leaned in closer to Ann. "And he's been working out." She arched her eyebrows.

Actually she hadn't see a workout room or anything else to suggest that he did, but he got those muscles somehow. "DAMN! That takes care of him having a brother." Ann knew from Kate that Richard Castle didn't have a brother. "Sorry, no brother." If, and this was still a big if in her mind, but if he was right and he did have a brother, he would have died thousands of years ago.

"Our supply ships are scheduled to arrive next week, we could use an additional person for security. Show Beckett her location," he said to Ann. "It's good to have you back with us Beckett, you had us worried." Roy's hope at redemption for what he had done was still on his mind. "And you might want to consider changing out of that dress and into something more... suitable." He dismissed both of them.

"Yes, sir." Kate was escorted to an empty location that happened to be right next to Ann's. "That my tent?" she asked when they reached the location. "You were dead Kate and Montgomery gave me your job. You can have it back." Ann was more than willing to hand it over to have Kate back.

"You keep it." She wasn't interested, besides she had someplace better, she just had to figure out when to go back and for how long. "I boxed up all of your stuff." Ann dug Kate's box out of her tent. "And your sleeping bag, pillow, and sheets." Ann pulled them out as well. "You want the air mattress?" Ann was already in love with it. Kate shook her head. "It goes with the tent."

Ann helped her set everything up in her little space and made sure Kate had everything that was hers. "If I was dead, shouldn't all of this stuff have been distributed to the others?" Ann simply shook her head. "Only if our supply boats don't show up. We're still trying to make sure this place is secure and get ready for how to unload all of these boats."

"Some of our civilians know how to work a fork lift. We've dedicated some of our remaining fuel to them hoping they will be enough. If not we've got civilians ready to form a line. We've been emptying the building across the way so we have a place to store it all."

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Kate was outside buried in one of the line of cars working her shift, looking for anyone in front of her. What she wasn't looking for was someone behind her. A tap on her shoulder had her jumping out of her skin. She spun, whipping her weapon around ready to shoot whomever it was. "Wow you're jumpy. Not daydreaming about a certain someone were we?" Ann teased. "WHAT!? No, ...yes, ...maybe." Actually she had been and it had only been a few days. She wondered if he missed her. "Wow, you've got it bad." Kate was dedicated to her work and that was before everything happened. Ann hadn't seen it change much even after.

"I'm fine." Kate turned her head to look back out to their front. "I'm here to relieve you so you can go to your space and daydream all you care to. Just keep it down." She turned her head and glared at Ann. "You're not fooling me Kate, you like him and you plan on jumping him the next time you see him. Now go get some rest. If he shows up I'll send him your way and you two can use my tent," Ann said with a grin and watched her walk away.

Hours later Ann was still watching when out in front of her, a body fell over on his face and just laid there. She blew her whistle and kept her service weapon in hand but not moving. The alarm got around really fast and Ann had four heavily armed men with AR-15s and shotguns show up and she pointed to the body that hadn't moved.

It was an hour later and Ann was sitting in front of Montgomery with Kate not far away as L.T. came up to Roy, handed him a really large silver knife, and talked to him before leaving. Kate moved in close behind Roy to get a good look at the knife. It was a perfect match to a knife that she knew well. She tried not to smile because it told her that Rick was still looking out for her. However, it also told her there was someone out there that wanted in. Roy toyed with it and noted how sharp it was as it cut his finger slightly. "Generate a rotation of two hour shifts for lookouts on each roof. Find them binoculars and set up a more silent signaling system for them. Their timing is too coincidental. Add a patrol on the waterside, they might decide to swim their way in."

Their ships, whatever size was coming, were scheduled to show up tomorrow and they couldn't afford to be attacked while they were unloading the supplies. She needed to tell Castle.

She was off shift. It was late so she went outside and saw someone on the roof who had spotted her. They signaled that she'd been spotted and it was all clear. It also meant she could use the wall where she had arrived. Not that she understood how he did that. She turned the corner and searched the roofs for both lookouts and saw their attention was elsewhere. So she placed her hand on the wall like she had been told to and a few minutes later a door that didn't used to be there opened. She stepped in quickly and found herself in Castle's arms. She looked up and saw that he was wearing his mask. Still she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his armored chest.

A moment later the door opened and Jasmine barked at her, rubbing up against her demanding attention. Kate knelt down and hugged her. "Hi Jasmine." Then she switched to petting her and kissing her head while smiling.

She looked up to see Castle taking off his mask. She beamed, stood up, and walked over to him. She did what she'd been promising herself she would do for days. She lifted up on tiptoe and kissed him. She felt him go ramrod straight and didn't kiss her back. "You find me so repulsive that you won't kiss me back?" She didn't want to feel hurt, but she was.

"I'll outlive you by thousands of years." Rick had a huge problem that he couldn't fix. It felt like one of his knives had pierced her heart. He wasn't even going to try because she would grow old and die. Break his heart. Except it was hurting hers. "I don't have an answer for that." She looked down at the floor. "I won't bother you anymore Castle, I'll just go get my boots and old clothes."

Jasmine followed her and watched her clean out her room. "At least he has you." Kate stopped to pet her. "I don't know what to do girl, it's been just me for so long, and to be honest, ...I'm scared." She walked back to the main room where she saw him sitting with an open bottle of beer on the table in front of the empty space beside him.

"You can't leave unless I let you and I have a few questions." Rick glanced over at her. "So I'm a prisoner now?" She was hurt but was determined to not let it show. "I answered your questions. You know things no one else on this planet knows or even suspects." He patted the empty space next to him. She felt ashamed. He was right, he had shared his secrets and she hadn't told him anything. Why should she expect him to even think of doing anything with her? She was a mystery to him.

She dropped her stuff and sat down. She picked up her beer and drank half of it in one go. He sat there and watched her so she drank the other half quickly and handed him the empty bottle. He got up to get another and handed it to her. She took one long drink. "What do you want to know Castle?" She was willing to talk and hoped the questions weren't too personal.

"Why become a detective? Surely you had other dreams while growing up." Great! He would pick the most personal item to ask about. "My mother. ...I had dreams of becoming a lawyer just like my parents. Then become a Supreme Court Justice. The youngest woman in history to accomplish the feat."

"My dad and I waited for her to show up at a restaurant for hours. When she didn't and it got late we went home. We found a cop waiting for us. A Detective Raglan. She had been found stabbed in an alley and had bled out. They attributed it to a random act of gang violence and didn't even try to find who killed her." She paused and waited for the tears to come. When none came she kept going.

"My dad and I took her death hard. I quit college and gave up my dream. Dad jumped in a bottle and became an alcoholic." Kate twisted the watch on her wrist. "He was sober for over five years when the world went to hell. He didn't make it. I, I found him in his apartment. He had apparently started drinking again, but that wasn't what killed him."

"I entered the Police Academy with the intent of making it to homicide detective so I could learn how to search for her killer. Then everyone started dying. Everyone but me." Now her tears started. "I lost everyone close to me. My partners, Javier Esposito, Kevin Ryan, his wife Jenny, ...even my best friend, Lanie Parish. Everyone was gone." She wiped her tears. She missed being alone. It hurt much less.

"My only friend through this mess has been Ann Hastings. Now neither of us are detectives. We only protect and serve those that will let us. I was more helpful when I was a green beat cop, a rookie. I was so lost back then; I was drowning, getting nowhere. It felt like I was never going to find out who killed my mother." Kate huffed out a laugh while crying. "Now I never will and he's likely already dead." Her life had turned to shit like everyone else's on this planet.

Her now empty second beer bottle was taken away from her and she watched him lean down and kiss her so very softly. She kissed him back just as softly as her hands held him in place. "I'll find him for you, and when I do, I'll take you to him."

"He's dead Rick, probably long since dead," she argued. She had resigned herself to never finding him, she just couldn't jump down that rabbit hole again. "Maybe, maybe not, you leave that to me. When's your next day off? You do still get them?" he asked. "Yeah, technically there are days off but there was no place to go so I worked anyway," she replied. "Which is when?" he asked her again. "Three days, but we're expecting a large delivery of a lot of things by boat tomorrow. We'll likely be working for days, maybe weeks to figure out what to do with it. ...If it shows up." The very idea of no free time to spend with him for weeks to come well and truly sucked.

"You know what to do when you have time off. I'll come get you." She stared at him. "You said it yourself Rick, I'll grow old and die on you." She didn't want to break his heart like hers had been. She didn't wish that on him. "I've lost people before and I'll lose still more long after you're gone." He lifted her left hand up to his lips with his right hand to brush a kiss over her knuckles.

"Castle, ...where did you get this ring?" Kate held up his hand so she could see it. "From my mother when I was just a teenager. It's all I have left from her or anything else from those days. Mother was what you would call a believer. She thought she had a gift." Kate fished out her mother's ring that she wore on a chain and showed it to him. "It was my mother's wedding ring. It was given to her by my father's grandmother before she died. My father slipped it on her finger when he married her." He took it from her and looked at it.

Rick had her turn around so he could take the chain off from around her neck and hold the ring. He compared them side by side. "They're the same. ...How is that possible?" she questioned. The two were divided by literally thousands of years if he was telling the truth.

He slid the ring on her wedding finger. "Castle!?" Her heart was pounding. He wasn't really going to do what she suddenly thought he was doing, was he? She was scared to death that he was. Then she watched him slide his ring off his finger and onto hers. Okay, so not asking her to marry him. That suddenly made her sad as well as scared shitless. She wasn't breathing and each heard the click of their rings touching; his lined up perfectly with her mother's. Like the Yin Yang symbol. The two stones actually touched and seemed to glow as waves of light played across the surface.

"I'll find him Kate. You should probably go back to work. I'll be there tomorrow, watching."

"Castle, did you kill that guy the other day? He had a knife in his back just like the ones you have." She was positive it had been him but she wanted him to tell her. "I was just trying to protect you even if you had gone inside." His honesty earned him a passionate thank you kiss.


	7. Chapter 7

**CH7**

Kate hadn't even worked out where everything was here as she woke up on the floor and immediately missed her bed at Castle's. As well as him and Jasmine. Kate and Ann were just exiting the restroom area and found everyone running around. They hurried inside and ran across Roy. "Get your vests and take your stations."

Both of them scrambled back to their sleeping area to put on their vests, secure the Velcro straps. They checked their weapons and made sure they had their three extra clips. Their position was the waterside of the N-Shed. Their team was to keep a watch on the water for swimmers and/or boats. They both saw two extra men on the roof each armed with an AR-15.

In their case they were near the corner of the J2-Shed and couldn't help but notice that something big was coming up the river, really big.

The closer it got they could see the one out in front was a small yellow and white ferry. It got swallowed up by the double wide barge that was behind it being pushed by a tug. It made sense if you thought about it. Why use ships when you can use barges that didn't use fuel.

However, there was an equally large ship behind it that looked like it came with its own cranes to load and unload, fore and aft with the control tower in the center. It looked old and very rusty. Kate tapped Ann to get her eyes off of it and onto their job. "We're getting supplies!" Ann couldn't believe it, it was like a dream come true. She couldn't help taking peeks as the tub pushed the side of the barge up against the end of the dock.

The little ferry went past and the two of them saw that it was packed with military. A mortar team was up top, they had mounted a pair of .50 cals fore and aft plus there was a marine manning an M-60 midship on each side.

Kate kept poking Ann to get her eyes off the barge that was being unloaded by each and every civilian they had with them, even the kids were put to use. It seemed to start with an endless supply of fifty gallon drums that were rolled off the barge and into the J-1 Shed that had been emptied just for this. Drum after drum after drum, it seemed to be all that was on both barges. It had to be tens of thousands of gallons of whatever was in them. There were even more armed military people on the dock and on the tug boat that had pushed the pair of barges.

Kate took a peek and saw Roy talking with a man in uniform who handed over a book that she was guessing was an inventory of everything they were delivering.

Kate and her team were outside all day long. The civilians unloaded drum after drum and kept going even after it got dark. With the last drum unloaded the tug pushed the two empty barges out into the middle of the river to join the other ship. Next came the fun part. Three teams had to take turns staying up all night long guarding the compound.

Kate, her team and all of the others were dead tired come morning. Still they were back outside and watched the big ship dock and start unloading nets filled with crates, drums, and machinery and waited till it was out of the net only to have it go back over to the ship and pick up another load. The big stuff - and there was a lot of it sitting on the deck of the ship - was taken away by forklift. Eventually the stuff on the deck was offloaded and now stuff in the forward and aft cargo hold was being offloaded. Like last time they worked well into the night to empty the ship.

Kate and Ann and the others were dragging themselves to bed only to get up four hours later to take their turn during the night. Come morning they found one more ship waiting to be unloaded. It was about half the size of the previous ship and was empty by lunch, not that anyone got anything to eat.

They saw Roy wave as each ship left and went downriver headed for sea. Now they had to keep it and distribute it to those that were on their side and weren't part of one of the countless little gangs that were only in it for themselves.

In the end they had filled the J-1 Shed as well as the J-2 Shed while the N-Shed and its small outbuilding was strictly for people. The outbuilding had been an office with restrooms and a single shower. One month later it was all restroom with more showers.

Kate and her team were off when Roy called everyone in close. "We have tens of thousands of gallons of diesel, any other fuel isn't being refined at this time. First thing, Beckett, I want your team to search the cars and tag anything that runs on diesel. Cars, trucks, delivery trucks, freight trucks, anything."

"One thing they didn't send was fresh water." Roy was interrupted by almost everyone moaning and complaining. "Settle down, settle down. What they did bring were desalinization machines. We have four of them and each is fifteen feet long by four feet wide and five feet tall. They will each produce two thousand gallons of fresh water per day. We need to get to work on what to store all of that water in and Mr. Santiago here has an idea about that.

"Since the river isn't exactly clean we also have a filtration system and UV lights to run the water through before we can drink it. We have a civilian team that's going to set each of them up and drop hoses over the side to suction water from the river. Martin, your team will provide security."

"For now the teams outside will remain till relieved tonight. Sullivan, your team will patrol the interior of the larger of the two buildings starting now, right now." They all watched Sully's team scramble to follow Roy's order. "Everything's in this binder. It's going to take time to find it all and unpack what we need sooner than later. Move out and get started." Roy called certain people in close to talk to them.

"Diesel, let's find what we've got. This should be fun," Kate commented dryly since they had hundreds if not thousands of cars and trucks to survey, tag, and document their location.

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They were dead tired as they shuffled into the N-Shed and headed for their respective spaces. Makeshift walls had been created using the heaviest material they could find to create the space for the women. What Kate wanted to do was collapse and sleep, so she dropped onto her sleeping bag, missing her bed or at least her air mattress. Ann didn't want to be alone so she crashed right next to Kate.

Kate placed her left hand on her stomach and sighed. They had maybe cleared a third of the site and had found a grand total of four cars, four old pickup trucks and three long haul trucks that didn't have trailers attached. Not a single one of them started. "Maybe it's just the batteries," Ann suggested sleepily as her eyes drifted shut. "Maybe, but where are we going to find batteries that aren't dead?"

"Maybe in one of our crates, we can ask Montgomery, as soon as I have the strength to stand. I really am glad you're not dead Kate. That hurt ...a lot." Ann opened her eyes and reached out her right hand to place it on Kate's left. "Me too. ...And I _am_ sorry about not getting in touch with you. I think I was out for days at first." Kate hadn't meant to hurt her, she was her best friend.

"I forgive you, besides you found yourself a guy." Ann patted her hand and then quickly lifted up and started fingering the ring on Kate's hand. "And you got engaged and didn't tell me!?" Ann was going to give her best friend a piece of her mind for holding out on her. "I'm not engaged. Castle was wearing a ring that was an exact match for my mother's ring and he slid both of them onto my finger, that's all." She lifted up her hand so she could look at both of them now, which looked like one ring actually. Ann took Kate's hand and looked more closely. "And it didn't hurt?" Ann saw what looked like several thin barbs embedded into Kate's finger.

"No, of course not, it's just a ring," she countered. "Well it kind of looks like it's trying to cut your finger off." Kate sat up quickly, forgetting her fatigue. She lifted her hand to her face and twisted her hand and spread her fingers. Now she could see the thin strands of gold that were embedded in her finger. She gave the ring a tiny tug trying to take it off and found that doing so hurt a little and that it didn't move. "You didn't notice?" Ann asked her thinking how could she not have noticed having her finger almost cut off. She shook her head. "I have to go," she suddenly announced as she quickly got up and hurried to the door leading outside.

"WAIT!" Ann was up and right behind her. "Where do you think you're going?" Ann demanded since it was past midnight. "To find out, of course." Kate stopped her at the door. "You need to stay here. Please Ann. ...I don't, I mean he might... Just stay here." Kate went out the door.

Ann waited for all of three seconds and then followed her out the door. She watched her turn the corner at the end of the building and ran for that corner only to see her turn again and head back towards the main building, which made no sense to her. There was no place to go, why hadn't she headed out into the maze of cars if she wanted to leave? She crept slowly to the corner and saw Kate just standing there staring at a blank wall. That was until a hole in the wall opened up. She watched as Kate walked through it into blackness. Ann didn't bat an eye and launched herself into the opening only to slam into two people in a tight space.

"ANN!? I told you to wait." Kate was ready to kick herself, she should have known her best friend wouldn't have waited with no explanation. Ann was all set to apologize but she actually wasn't sorry. Ann looked around and saw Kate with her arms wrapped around someone. Someone who was wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and a black mask. "Who's..." Ann had been expecting her friend to be heading for this Richard Castle person and this wasn't him, ...was it?

Kate buried her head in his chest. "Just go Castle." Kate closed her eyes not knowing what to expect. He had every right to blow up at her, and yet he didn't say a word. He closed the door and selected where he wanted to go.

Ann's eyes were wide while she watched and suddenly felt like she was being slammed up against the wall for a moment and then nothing. Then she felt it again followed by the door opening as the guy in the mask stepped out with Kate holding onto him. Ann tentatively stepped out with them and was shocked at what she saw.

"Jasmine! How are you girl?" Kate was down petting a dog. An animal that Ann hadn't seen in years. Ann soon found the dog's big nose being poked into every space of her body. "She won't hurt you. Ann this is Jasmine and this is Ann Hastings, my best friend." Rick just stood there as the various readouts of Ann scrolled across his eyes.

"Castle, tell me about this ring." She held up her hand. "Why are there thin strands of gold embedded in my finger?" She thought he might have an answer since he had been wearing the ring for millennia. Hers had simply been around her neck on a chain all these years. Rick took his eyes off of Ann for a moment and looked Kate's hand. Ann petted Jasmine who would appear, liked Ann too.

He zoomed in using the eyes of his mask and indeed saw several thin strands of gold embedded into Kate's finger.

"Were am I? ...How did we get here?" Ann had finished with Jasmine and was looking around. "Come with me." Rick started walking with Kate striding to catch up. "KATE!?" Ann ran to catch up to her though her head was swiveling all around as she tried to look at everything.

The place was packed with art work, it was everywhere. Then she stopped in her tracks when she saw tanker car after tanker car. She walked out to the closest car and looking left around the curve of the track she saw more and then right where she saw still more.

"Hey, wait up!" Ann called to the pair of them as they walked away with Jasmine running out in front of them. She hurried down the landing after them. She passed a wide opening on her right and she went closer and slowed down a little to look down it. Or in this case up it since it was a set of stairs leading up. ...To nothing since they had obviously caved in. She doubled her speed to catch up. She passed a pair of large louvered double doors and could hear a lot of noise being generated from inside. She also saw a large hose leading out of a hole next to the door and down the way where she was now running.

The hose went off into the distance while Kate, the dog, and the guy all went into what looked to her like a passenger car that had cables coming from it and followed the hose back the way she had come. Ann opened the door and stepped inside and was amazed as the place lit up. It looked like a laboratory for some mad scientist except in this case it was filled with all of the latest modern equipment. There was a glass door at the far end.

"Hop up." Rick patted the single bed that was in the room. Then he picked up a pad and placed Kate's hand on it and turned to look at the monitor. "YOU, hold this." He motioned to Ann who blindly moved forward. "Hold this and don't either of you move." He sat down at the monitor after Ann did as she was told. "What's going on?" Ann asked softly while looking at Kate who simply shrugged. "So who's the well-muscled guy in the mask?"

"Ann meet Richard Castle, Castle this is Ann Hastings." Kate used her other hand to point to each of them. He ignored them both as he started typing on his keyboard while Ann stood there shocked. "This is your most favorite writer on the planet?" Ann asked incredulously. Kate turned her head and glared at her for giving up one of her secrets. "WHAT? He is. ... And what's with the mask?" Ann inquired quietly.

Rick stood up and took the pad away from Ann. "Lie back." He patted the bed she was sitting on. "What, what is it? What's it done to me?" Rick guided her down on her back, reached across her, and pulled a panel the length of the bed over her. "Lie still." He needed her to stop squirming.

Then he lifted the top panel up so he could view it and turned it on. They both stood there looking at Kate's body. "It's like an x-ray machine," Ann remarked. "What are those?" Ann pointed and watched as each one got a little longer. "What are what?" Kate sounded worried and began squirming. "Be still." Rick reached over to hold her shoulder down and saw his own hand show up on the screen before he moved it away.

"What are they doing? ...Do something!" Ann stared at Rick and tried her own Kate Beckett glare. "CASTLE! So help me I'm going to hurt you if you don't start talking." Kate had had enough of the silent treatment. He pushed the panel back allowing her to sit up. "I'm not entirely sure myself," he admitted. "You have these ...worms growing inside you starting from that ring." Ann did her best to describe what she saw and pointed at Kate's ring. Kate turned on Rick. "CASTLE!?"

"Stand up and I can show you." After Kate stood up, moving over between Ann and Rick, he pulled the panel back down and tilted it up for them to see. "This is the recording that was taken." He started the play back. Ann looked to be right, there were all of these ...worm-like things spreading throughout her body and not a single one of them ever seemed to double back. They were going everywhere. "But I don't feel a thing." Kate began pressing places on her body in the spaces the worms have already reached. "Take it off." She thrust her hand at him.

Rick shook his head. "It's attached to the bone. Even if I cut it off I don't have the ability to go in and remove what's already been done." She collapsed into the chair Rick had been using. "GREAT! Now what do I do?" Kate sounded defeated. "If the tendrils or worms were trying to kill you, based on how far they've already gotten, you'd be dead already. ' _Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.'"_

"What?" Ann asks not remotely understanding. "He does that a lot," Kate told her while bent over with her head in her hands. " _When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?"_ He tried again. "Not helping Castle," she said into her hands. "Great, he thinks he's Sherlock Holmes." Ann was exasperated about this whole situation.

Kate took her head out of her hands and looks up at him. "So what are they doing?" He gestured toward the examination bed. "Let's find out. I can't stop them so let's try and understand them." He waited for her to lie down again then pulled the panel back over her.

"They've made it to your stomach," Ann commented. Kate moved a hand to her stomach. He reached in to touch her arm. "Try not to move," he advised. "Sorry." She put her arm back, which was when Rick noticed something and zoomed in on that area.

"What do you see?" he asked Ann. Ann shrugged. "Worms." Rick reached for a pair of scissors and started cutting Kate's top off. "HEY! I don't have too many of these I'll have you know," she complained while he cut. "I'll get you a new one, all I can find Detective." He exposed Kate's shoulder and one of her breasts inside a bra cup. Then he removed her bandage. "Now what do you see?" he asked Ann again. Ann was all set to say _'her shoulder'_ when it dawned on her. Ann reached in to run her fingers over Kate's baby smooth and unblemished skin. Her mouth hung open. It was impossible. "WHAT YOU TWO? Somebody had better start talking!" Mount Beckett was ready to blow.

A minute later Kate was standing next to the bed. She watched what he had recorded and was running her own hand over her shoulder. He and even Ann had already seen her in just her bra and panties so standing there exposed didn't mean anything to her. "It's not possible, no one heals like this." Then she looked at him. "Except for you." She stood there gaping at Rick and lifted up her hand to look at the two combined rings.

"NO!" It wasn't possible ...was it?


	8. Chapter 8

**CH8**

"What are you two talking about? Those ...worm things have to come out of her!" Ann had already lost Kate once and couldn't afford to lose her again. Rick shook his head slightly, almost imperceptibly. She knew it meant not to reveal his secret, he had entrusted her with it. If she blabbed now he might never trust her again. "You heard him, they can't be removed. So we wait. And you mister, owe me a top." She turned on him and glared. "I give you my word, I will pay my debt, with interest. Something to eat or drink perhaps?" He motioned for them to exit the car.

Moments later they were entering his living area. "Lunch ladies? Something to drink?" He really didn't wait for a response as he took out slices of homemade bread and began making sandwiches. He set their plates on the coffee table. "My apologies for not having any chips, however, those left us some time ago. I do have some peanuts if you care to indulge." He placed a bag that had salted peanuts still in their shell on the coffee table in front of them, along with two bottles of cold beer.

"NO WAY!" Ann forgot about her sandwich and that she hadn't eaten in she didn't know how long to pick up the bottle. "It's even cold," she sighed in amazement after twisting the top off and taking a sip. Then she practically chugged the entire bottle. She blinked back her tears. "Please tell me there's another of you." Ann looked at Rick. "Alas, I'm the last of my kind." He bowed deeply. "Just my luck." Then she turned to look at Kate. "I don't suppose you're willing to share?" She already knew the answer to that question, still it didn't hurt to ask. "Yeah, I didn't think so." She saw the look Kate was giving her.

"I owe milady a top, and perhaps something for your friend as well?" Rick stepped over to the blank wall, placed his finger on the panel, then stepped inside and was gone. Ann quickly turned on Kate. "Okay, talk. What's with the mask, how do you know he's Richard Castle, how does he do that, and what _is_ this place?" Ann waved her hand around. "This place is an old abandoned train station deep below the city. He moved all those cars down here. They're filled with fuel, water, heating oil, and something else, ...orange juice. He has refrigerated cars along with box cars filled with items along with that rolling mini hospital."

"As for the mask, he was burnt in an explosion." He wasn't as handsome as he used to be, but he was still healing. "You've seen his face without the mask," Ann stated and Kate nodded just as Jasmine poked her head in and laid it on her lap. Kate petted her, scratched behind her ears, and down her body. "A real dog." Ann was sure she'd never see one ever again. "She's a sweetheart." Kate bent down to kiss her head.

"You're in deep Kate, you love them," Ann said. "Jasmine? Yeah, how can you not love a face like that?" She cooed at Jaz and messed with her face. "Go find your toy." They both watched Jasmine scramble away, hearing her nails on the concrete floor.

"I meant him, Kate, not the dog. Well, maybe the dog, too." Kate reflected on what Ann had said. Yes, she liked him. Yes, it had been a long time and if she was going to have sex with anyone it was likely going to be Castle. But love him? "It's hard to separate the man from the books. I love his books and they helped save me during a dark time. But this is a different time, a different world, a different _me."_ She wasn't sure just what to do.

"I'm not telling you to marry him, but it's been a long time, Kate and you obviously like him. One of us needs to get laid. We both have IUDs so why are you fighting it? Even I can see that he likes you." Ann tried to push her a little just as Jasmine showed up with her toy. The game was on. Even Ann got to take turns. "Doesn't she ever get tired?" She threw the stuffed squirrel and watched Jasmine chase it down. She decided to help herself and found the remnants of two six-packs in the refrigerator.

"He also has coffee," Kate told her as Jasmine dropped her toy in her lap. Ann turned around in complete shock. "GET OUT OF TOWN! ...Real coffee?" Wordlessly she pointed to the coffee maker on the counter. Ann kept the beer and walked over to the machine of her dreams. "We've so got to find a way to clone him." Ann wanted one and she didn't mean the coffee maker, though she wanted one of those, too.

They had both finished drinking their second beer, Jasmine had finally stopped playing, and Kate had pushed a button at random on the jukebox.

 _Olha que coisa mais linda_

 _Mais cheia de graça_

 _É ela a menina que vem e que passa_

 _num doce balanço a caminho do mar_

 _Moça do corpo dourado do sol de Ipanema_

 _O seu balançado é mais que um poema_

 _É a coisa mais linda que eu já vi passar_

 _Ah, por que estou tão sózinho?_

 _Ah, por que tudo é tão triste?_

 _Ah, a beleza que existe_

 _A beleza que não é só minha_

 _Que também passa sozinha_

 _Ah, se ela soubesse_

 _Que quando ela passa_

 _O mundo sorrindo se enche de graça_

 _E fica mais lindo por causa do amor_

Rick stepped out of the wall with a box that had a plastic bag laying on top of it. He smiled behind his mask as Jasmine got up to greet him, pleased that Kate had found a tune on the jukebox.

"For Mademoiselle Beckett." He gave her the plastic bag and then turned to Ann. "And for Mademoiselle Hastings." He handed her the box. "I'm going to go change, if you'll excuse me?" He'd gotten a little messy searching for the items and cursed silently at himself for forgetting to bring weapons. Kate was definitely getting to him.

"And he brings presents. I swear Kate, if you don't want him..." Ann started to open her box while Kate opened her plastic bag. She found a t-shirt that was tie-dyed in various colors, said _Barbados_ in cursive over the nonexistent chest pocket, and it was in her size. She liked it but did he really want her standing out like a sore thumb inviting the bad guys to shoot her? However, she also found a small flat jewelry box inside that had her holding her breath. It wasn't a ring box, but it was just as good.

It took willpower but she opened it. "OH-MY-GOD!" Kate held it up and stared at it. _Bold p_ _rasiolite_ _green amethyst (12.20 ctw) surrounded by diamonds (.42 ctw) hung from a 16-inch 14k white gold necklace. Pendant measured 13/16 inch._

She kept staring at it when Ann, turning a bright shade of red, quickly closed her box. "WOW! He cares for you a lot Kate, a whole lot." Ann saw what Kate was still holding up and staring at. "Better than a new top."

"So what's in the box?" Kate asked her after she snapped out of it and put the necklace back in its box. "Nothing!" Ann actually attempted to hide the box. "Ann Hastings, don't make me take the box away from you to find out what's in it." She watched her turn an even deeper shade of red. Now she was even more interested in what was in the box. "ANN!?" She gave her one last warning.

"GOD! ...Fine." Ann opened the box, pulled out one of the three items, and put it on the table.

Cyberskin Vibrator, _A Hallmark of a Cyberskin vibrator is its ability to capture and retain body warmth, effectively imitating the feeling of a human lover._

Kate snatched it up to read the fine print. It was even flexible and showed a hand bending it into a 90-degree position. Ann took out the next one and laid it on the table.

Icicles, _this luxurious line of glass massagers will leave you breathless. The hypoallergenic glass is nonporous and body safe, and when cared for properly, is designed to last a lifetime. Choose from ten pulsation patterns and go from a flutter to a throb with the push of a button. The powerful bullet transfers vibrations to the teaser's ears, giving you direct clitoral stimulation where you want it most. Adjust the elastic waist and thigh straps until they are snug and comfortable, then insert the smooth glass dildo. The incredible vibrations can be felt simultaneously in the shaft and in the bunny's ears, creating mind_ _-_ _blowing sensations and wall-banging climaxes._

Ann grabbed the last item and put it on the table as she shoved the other two back into the box.

Silver Weighted Pearls, _Keep yourself perfectly primed for pleasure while strengthening your_ _muscles and heightening sensations with your every move! This sleek metallic ball set comes in a chic shell-shaped case that's perfect for discreet and stylish storage or on-the-go pleasures. Start with one ball and work your way up as you explore this ancient pleasure system every woman wants to try!_

"Can I borrow these?" Kate had had a sudden idea and wanted to go through with it before she chickened out. "They're yours." Ann was already embarrassed enough. "Thanks." Kate smiled wide. "Bring that butterfly." Kate set her presents aside, stood up, and waited for Ann.

"Ladies room," she told Rick as they passed him by. He was just leaving his room dressed in his all black combat outfit, complete with knives. "Kate?" Ann questioned after they entered. She'd noticed that it was a public restroom that had the symbol and word _Ladies_ out front.

"Put that on, we're wearing these the rest of the day," she told her. "It needs batteries, Kate." Ann informed her though the other one did too. Kate ran for the box praying that Rick had planned ahead. She was searching through it when he came back from somewhere so she decided to risk it. "Batteries?" He pointed. What she found was a battery charger that had triple A, double A, C, and D batteries in it. She didn't know which so she pulled out a pair of double A's and triple A's, went running to the restroom, and handed them over to Ann.

Each chose a stall. Kate took the stainless steel balls out of their holding tray and while scooted far forward on the toilet, worked on inserting the first ball. Just this action made her moan since besides a tampon, nothing had been inside her for a long time. "Don't make noises like that, ...please," Ann pleaded. "I make no promises." She then inserted the second one.

Kate waited for Ann to come out. "Is it on?" When she shook her head, Kate stuck out her hand asking for the remote control. _OH GOD!_ was written all over Ann's face and yet she handed over the remote. Kate checked to see if she inserted the batteries in the remote and hoped she had inserted them into the butterfly.

Kate turned her back and set the remote to low and was rewarded with Ann moaning. "All day!? I'm going to be a puddle of goo by the end of the day," she whined. "And I'm keeping this for today." Kate pocketed the remote control. **"What!?"** She knew that thing had something like ten settings on it. "I'm making sure you don't turn it off," Kate told her. "Fine, but if I find out you took out even one of those balls I am so going to hurt you," she threatened as they headed back to the living room. It was only then that Kate found out what those balls inside her were going to do to her. They might both end up puddles of goo by the end of the day.

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Kate and her team were in their position of watching the water after they got back. Getting a day off was far in the future. No one had any illusions that someone, some gang somewhere hadn't seen those boats or where they went. Ann held out her water bottle. "Water, please." Kate glared at her. She snatched it out of her hand and walked to the fresh water area. Half way there she almost skipped a step and stumbled. Sitting with the balls inside her wasn't the problem, it was the walking.

Kate shoved the water bottle into her chest when she got back. "Me too, boss?" Holiwell held out his water bottle. She angrily snatched it out of his hand "Anyone else? Last chance," she practically snarled and started walking. By the time she came back she was lucky to be seeing straight. She shoved his damn water bottle at him and settled down next to Ann. "Do that again and I'll turn up the speed," she threatened her softly. Ann just grinned at her.

Hours later the day teams were relieved by the night teams and Ann made a beeline for her tent. "I'm going to spontaneously combust," Ann announced as she entered her tent. She worked fast to get to that damn butterfly that was sitting directly on top of her clit because of the latest movement. "Bathroom break." She exited her tent doing her best to hide her other gift.

Kate wasted no time into entering her old tent where she stripped as fast as she could and pushed the balls out of her. She sighed a deep sigh and fell back onto the floor. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this horny. She silently agreed with Ann, she was ready to spontaneously combust.

Kate was lying on her bed when Ann finally came back. "I was starting to think you had flushed yourself," she teased. Ann simply went into her tent and hid her now well-used battery-powered dildo.

Ann slept through the night happy and content while Kate twisted and turned, moaning. It was dark, it was cool outside, and they had a little bit of a breeze. However, Kate was on fire. She had used her fingers countless times to try and ease the pressure. It had helped but it was never totally satisfying. But she did know what would.

She'd done this to herself on purpose. She finally got up and got dressed. She strode to the door, went outside, and signaled the guys on shift. She went around the corner, held her hand on the wall, and waited. She put her hand on the wall a couple of minutes later and still got nothing. "Oh, come on, I'm dying here," she groaned. She was pressing her thighs together to try and stem the flow of her juices. "Please Rick." She leaned in and placed her head against the wall.

However, Rick was busy at that time and never saw her. He was actually in New York doing some searching. To start his search he needed information so he started with the dwelling that had been the home of Jim and Johanna Beckett and was still there when the sun came up.

The place had been ransacked and stripped of everything remotely useful. No food, no sheets, comforters, pillows, medicine, first-aid kit, even the drapes were gone. Still that wasn't what he was looking for; the eyes in his mask were being a big help.

The sun was up and Rick had moved on to his next stop. It was another house, still in New York. It was a nice stand-alone home. The windows were all broken, the front door stood open, and it looked like there had been a small fire that thankfully hadn't spread to the rest of the house. It too, had been looted of everything anyone could conceivably want. Even some of the kitchen pots and pans were missing.

The wall safe was plainly visible and there was evidence that someone had taken what was likely a hand drill and tried break into it. Rick smiled behind his mask, knowing that that wasn't going to get them anything.

He was staring at the safe when with lightning quickness, he pulled a knife from its sheath and threw it, catching a man in the throat, the blade sticking out the back of his neck. A quick jump over what was left of the desk brought him face-to-face with another invader. This one was Caucasian unlike the first one who was Asian. Two quick slashes and his chest was ripped open as was his neck. He then threw the knife that hit a third directly in the heart. Satisfied that the area was clear he retrieved his knives and cleaned them before putting them back in place.

He was back to staring at the safe as his eyes told him what the other person couldn't see. He stepped up to it and started spinning the combination dial. Turning the handle released the bolts and he pulled the safe open. Inside he found a lovely-looking weapon that was actually quite large. He didn't need it but it went into a space behind his back. Next, out came a fat folder that had NYPD written all over it.

Rick wondered if he had actually gotten that lucky so quickly. He was in Beckett's boss's home looking for something, anything. It also had him deeply concerned. If her boss was a part of this she could be in danger and he couldn't have that.

He placed his hand on the wall next to the safe and stepped into the little room that had come to take him home. Once there, he dropped the file on the coffee table, started the coffee maker, and selected a tune from his jukebox before sitting down to read what he had, laying the weapon on the table next to the file.


	9. Chapter 9

**CH9**

Kate and Ann were back in the restroom after Ann issued her a challenge. Kate was inserting the cursed balls again while Ann was sliding her butterfly into place. They were both back outside and Ann was already suffering as Kate turned on Ann's little toy and put the remote away.

They had only just reached their assigned positions when Ann noticed something. "You didn't bring your water bottle. I'll cover for you." Ann listened to Kate groan in annoyance and started walking while Ann grinned. Kate walked back with a grimace and assumed her position.

An alarm had both of them moving to get eyes on the target. However, it turned out to be a false alarm. It was just a piece of wood floating down the river that had managed to snag a badly ripped shirt. Kate got back into her position, thankful for the lack of movement.

After lunch another alarm occurred. They went to inspect what had been spotted. This time it was a broken fishing pole towing a torn piece of tarp. "Restroom break," Ann announced and they took turns. For Kate it meant walking the length of the N-Shed to reach it and by the time she did, she was in trouble. She peed and just sat there rethinking her plan, wondering if it had been a stupid idea.

Oh, she was hot alright, and in more ways than one, but Rick hadn't come and gotten her last night. If he had she would have jumped him, she was sure of it. Right now she wanted to place her hand on the wall so he could do wicked things to her body, but she had a job to do.

Kate went back to her space and collapsed. She raised her head and talked to the sky. "Please, no more false alarms. ...I take that back, make them all false alarms."

Rick had gotten tired, picked up all of his paperwork and was asleep in his bed when Jasmine jumped up on his bed and started licking him. "Jaz!?" She didn't usually do this anymore, not since she was a puppy and figured out how to jump up on the bed. Now that he was awake, she jumped down, headed for the door, and barked at him.

His brain was trying to catch up and the first thing that came to mind was that his place had been discovered, and yet Jasmine wasn't acting threatened. So he slid on a pair of shorts and followed her into the living room. "I fed you already." He had even cleaned up her fake grass area that was there for her to do her business on. That was when he saw the wall blinking. "You must really love her," he said as he pressed the panel and stepped inside. A minute or less later it opened again.

Kate was scared and desperate. She did this knowing that she was going to screw his brains out and likely become addicted to his feel, taste, smell, wanting him nightly. She did this knowing she was going to fall in love with him. Not just his words, but him. Still she put her hand on the wall and waited. "Please!" she begged softly. She was dripping and her inner thighs were wet. Two days of balls inside her had left her a mess both physically and mentally.

Finally the wall opened. Kate jumped in and found Rick inside wearing only a pair of shorts. Had he been reading her mind? Didn't matter. She wrapped her arms around him, raised up on tiptoe, and kissed him soundly. When he started kissing her back she deepened the kiss and ran her fingernails down his back.

"Home, Rick, take us home." She watched him press the location on the door and moments later they stepped out to find Jasmine waiting for them. "Hi Jaz." She petted her briefly then took his hand and dragged him to his bedroom. She had never been in his room and right now wasn't interested in what it looked like.

She placed her hands on his chest. "I'm falling in love with you and I want you. Please Rick, ...make love to me." She gently cupped his face and slid her hand behind his head to pull his head down so she could kiss him softly this time while reaching down to touch him through his shorts.

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 _ **This section has mature content. Reader discretion is advised.**_

oXo

Kate had no idea what time it was but she was awake and curled up next to a naked Rick. Their first time had been frantic. She had begged him to fuck her and she had gotten just what she had asked for as she felt him shatter and climax inside her. That had been followed by Rick making love to her like she had asked him to. He had started from the bottom and had literally sucked her toes as he worked his way up. He had simply blown on her core, began again with her other foot, and did the same.

She had been pleading with him by then. He had found her clit and her G-spot and she had lost her mind over the number of orgasms she had had with his head planted firmly between her thighs. Her mind came back to her just as he entered her and started a pounding rhythm. He kissed her when she responded and wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back.

She had rolled them over so that she was on top. She kissed her way down his body, leaving love bites here and there, to find his erection and paid all of her attention to it. Kate had seen bigger erections, some longer, some larger in girth, but none of them had felt like they belonged to her. She was going to be the only one to see it, to touch it, to take it inside her. It belonged to her now and she lavished all of her attention on it till he climaxed down her throat.

Then she crawled up his body kissing it the entire way. Moments later she reached down to place him at her entrance and lowered herself down on him. She raised herself and lowered herself, up and down, till she bent over to start kissing him. She lifted back up and found his hands on her breasts as she ground herself on him . "Come for me Rick, come deep inside me. I want to feel it." Kate climaxed and leaned way back, his hands running down her stomach. She screamed through another sudden orgasm when his fingers found her clit followed by still another as his thumb circled her clit.

She had no memory of how they ended up where they were now; their heads were at the foot of the bed. She ran a hand over his chest and slowly reached down to take his flaccid penis in her hand. She was sore and ached between her legs. Muscles that she hadn't used in a really long time were complaining but it was also a soreness that she knew would go away with a little more practice and after last night, they were going to get a lot of practice. "If you don't remove your hand I can't be held responsible for my actions," Rick warned her as she felt his cock starting to harden. She got up and straddled his waist, a move that only accentuated her sore muscles. "Promises, promises. Let's see if you can keep good on your threat." Kate smiled widely at him and squealed when she suddenly found herself on her back, her legs spread wide and her lover deep inside her.

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Kate was lying on his examination bed again to see what all those tendrils or worms were doing now. "I still don't feel a thing." Rick lifted the panel. "Sit up and take a look at your leg." She did just that and found nothing but smooth skin. She had a look of shock on her face. "How is this possible?" Then suddenly she turned to run her fingers over the place she had been stabbed once and found it just as smooth. "There isn't a mark on me." She didn't understand. Alarmed, she looked at her hip. _"My tattoo_ _!_ _"_ She had wanted that tattoo. It represented a moment in her life and was a reminder of that moment. Now it was gone. "What's going on Castle?" She looked at him while still lying there naked. Rick could only shake his head.

"Let me go over all of these tests and scans. I need time to analyze them. Right now you look to be in perfect health. Why don't you take a quick shower and I'll take you back." She reached out to draw him closer to her as she spread her legs to get him as close as she could. "I'll be back tonight Castle and this time, you're mine. I'm going to show you what I can do to a male body." She pulled his head down to kiss him.

She was clean and dressed, and in the living room checking her weapon. "Take your vitamins Castle, because you're mine tonight." She lifted up on tiptoe to kiss him. Then he pressed the panel and stepped inside. A moment later she walked back out after kissing him again.

Kate walked into the women's area and saw that Ann was already up and checking her weapon. "And where have you been?" Ann stepped up to her and sniffed deeply. "You're clean and glowing! You did didn't you?" She grinned. "I'm so sore I can barely walk," Kate admitted. "God, what I wouldn't give to feel like that again." She began daydreaming. "What about your... worms?" she inquired quietly. "They're everywhere now, right down to the tips of my toes and I don't feel a thing." Then Kate dropped her pants and showed her leg. "I was shot in this leg, twice," Kate reminded her and felt Ann's hand run over her baby smooth skin. Kate put her pants back on. "Even my tattoo is gone," Kate said sadly. "You had a tattoo?" That was something she didn't know. "What did he say, what's going on?" She watched Kate shake her head. "Castle did a number of tests and wants time to look them over. Right now I'm in perfect health." Kate followed her to their assignment.

In the meantime, Rick sat down to look at everything he had gotten out of that safe. He pointed at a name and tapped it twice. "I bet I know just where I can find you if you made it that far." He got up, went into the medical car, and started mixing a chemical cocktail before putting it into an IV bag, getting it set up and hanging from an IV pole.

From there he moved into his room and donned his combat outfit. This time he buckled on a belt that had a number of small pockets on it. Then he stepped over to his desk, took out a piece of paper and began writing. Finished, he folded it, sealed it in an envelope, and wrote something on the front.

Jasmine followed him into the living room. "I'm glad you like her, she's special." Rick hugged her then pressed the panel on the wall and stepped inside. The door opened a moment later and he walked out into the daylight. Working his way around the side of the building, hugging it tight to his back, he taped the envelope to the door. He then retraced his steps, opened the door, and moved inside.

Rick hung his head and took a deep breath. He hadn't died in any fight or even been permanently injured in thousands of years. Today might be different. He pressed his destination, zoomed in, and placed his finger where he wanted to go.

Kate meanwhile, was in position. She was putting up with Ann smiling at her till she finally broke down and grinned back. She'd had sex before, yes, but this was the first time she had allowed her heart to be involved. And the fact that Rick would likely outlive her by thousands of years didn't phase her.

Roy was sitting at his desk trying to figure out what to do with all of this stuff. The new generators were in place as were the desalinization units. The water was going through filters and a UV light before going into tanks. Several more just like it were under construction. The walk-ins were also under construction. However, they still needed to figure out how and where to create vegetable farms and go hunting for meat. They were in good shape overall but living here really should be thought of as short term. What came next would say a lot about them and New York City as a whole.

Then a man came running up to him and handed over an envelope. Roy took it and looked it over. "Go find Beckett, she should be at her position at the corner of the dock," he told him. "Sir." And he ran off thinking it was important.

Moments later Kate walked up to Roy. "You wanted to see me, sir?" She couldn't even begin to guess why she was there. "This was taped to the outside of the door." Roy gave her the envelope. She saw her first name on it, handwritten no less. "I'll give you a minute." He got up and left wondering what it was and even more, how it came to be taped on a door inside of their defensive perimeter. He wasn't going to be able to let that go, no matter what he thought of Kate.

Kate didn't know what to expect. Was it from Ann? From another member of her team? Where it was found suggested to her that it was from Rick. She ripped it open to find a single sheet of paper.

 _My Beloved_ _Detective,_

 _I have a lead on who killed your mother and I'm going to go pick him up. While I've not died in thousands of years there_ _'_ _s no guarantee that it won't happen this time._

 _Remember the IDEA, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught. He can be killed or forgotten. But a hundred years later an IDEA can still change the world._

 _I told you only truth. For years I sought only this day. Nothing else existed ...until I saw you. Then everything changed. I fell in love with you, Kate, and to think I_ _had_ _no longer believed I could._

 _If I succeed I will take you to him and you can ask him why. Why your mother had to die. If I don't, remember that I love you. I've lived thousands of years to find someone to love like you._

 _I've set the system to accept your handprint. Jasmine deserves someone to love her and she already loves you._

 _Forever yours,_

 _Mannum-Ki-Iliya_

 _Richard Edgar Castle_

Kate tried to sit down while crying but missed the chair and ended up hitting the floor. "Castle, no." She closed her hand, inadvertently crumpling the letter and broke down. She couldn't lose someone else, everyone else was already gone. "Please, no."

Rick had no idea where, in what he was betting was a large complex, he would be and that was if he was in there. He pulled out a knife in each hand and waited for the door to open. Stepping out, he found himself in a large kitchen that rivaled any restaurant plus they were busy cooking. He couldn't really risk it but also didn't want to kill everyone he came across.

He attacked the two closest people, ripping open arms and legs that had them both on the ground writhing in pain. Moving to the next person he spotted someone running for it. After slicing open his arm he threw a knife that ended up in his back killing him instantly. One of the cooks threw a pot of something boiling at his face, however, it did nothing and his eye covers cleared instantly.

With everyone in the kitchen down or dead he moved on and found several men and a few women sitting at tables eating. Using his system he scanned the room before entering and came up empty; the person he was after wasn't there. It left him free to do what he pleased. Stepping into the room he slit the throat of the man who was seated in front of him with his back to him and moved down the short row killing as he went. Naturally the room erupted with people yelling and running everywhere, mostly toward the far door, the only exit besides the one leading to the kitchen where he came from.

Some of the men tried to put up a fight but their necks were slit wide open for the attempt. Then he saw two men dressed in green come charging in with weapons in both hands. Rick held up one of the men in front of him and allowed the first shots to kill him while he threw two knives killing his two combatants.

He left behind the ones cowering under the tables and went through the door where he encountered two more men armed with hand weapons. The closest one almost had his head cut off while the second got a shot off that hit Rick squarely in the chest which hurt like a son of a bitch. However, the round hadn't penetrated his chest armor. That armed guard died with a knife in his throat.

Pulling out another knife, he moved on and found himself in a large open room that had a podium and a number of empty chairs beyond. He swiftly moved to the far end where there was another door. He pulled the door open and quickly stepped to one side and felt a number of rounds strike the wall and door.

Rick pulled out a pebble and threw it. It erupted into a massive gas cloud that obscured their sight but not his. The guards died one by one and fell to the floor, their throats slit. He moved past them and up to the command center that was filled with keyboards, monitors, and communication devices.

Everyone there was unarmed so they all ended up on the floor with deep wounds in their arms and legs. The only door left opened into a long room filled with bunk beds that occasionally had someone sleeping in them.

He spun around and killed the three guards that came charging in with their hand weapons drawn and ready to fire. He pulled out another pellet right where he was and effectively disappeared from everyone in the room and outside of it.

Proceeding down the walkway between the beds, he scanned each person as he went. When he ran out of smoke and stepped into the clear he found men and women cowering on the floor begging for their lives.

Rick found his target far in the back and strode toward him. The bastard grabbed some woman and put a knife to her neck. "Stay back! I'll kill her! You're a dead man. You have no way out of here," Bracken threatened as he pressed the blade into her throat and actually drew blood. She screamed and babbled, "Please, please, please."

He didn't say anything and simply kept walking. When he reached the both of them he plunged his blade straight into her midsection surprising Bracken since his threat was now useless. The wound was deep however he had purposely chosen the location knowing she would survive it. Then he sliced Bracken's arm wide open, forcing him to drop the knife. He pushed the woman away and drove his blade into Bracken's shoulder who cried out in severe pain.

Placing his hand on the wall behind him, he shoved Bracken through the door just as two more armed guards came running in and put two rounds into Rick's back. The door closed as he shuddered from the pain of the shots hitting his armor. With Bracken still crying out in pain, Rick ripped his knife out of his shoulder. He turned to bring up the map then pressed the location he wanted to go to.

Moments later Bracken was leaving a trail of blood on the polished concrete as Rick forced him to walk toward the medical car. "What do you want? I can give you anything, anything! Do you have any idea who I am?!" Bracken yelled out his questions as Rick manhandled him into the car where he soon was restrained, strapped to the examination bed after Rick had broken his left arm for resisting him.

"What do you want?" Bracken demanded and watched the masked man stick a needle into his arm and open up the bag of brilliant blue fluid that was hanging there. Then he left him lying there as he screamed at him.

Rick was soon naked, letting the water of the shower wash everything from today away.


	10. Chapter 10

**CH10**

As was usual lately, Rick was in shorts and a t-shirt and was barefoot. He had pork chops defrosting in the microwave when Jasmine suddenly started barking. He turned his head to look at what had her attention and saw the signal that Kate was using. He waited since he thought she had seen how to use it often enough by now and she was in the system. A moment later the door opened and out stepped Kate who was immediately greeted by the dog. "Hi Jaz!" She was happy to see her and stopped to pet her, scratch her ears, and kiss her head. She watched her run off, likely to find her toy so she could convince Kate to play with her.

"Hi." Kate walked over and reached up to kiss him while pulling his head down a little. "You're mine tonight and I'm _so_ angry with you. Your letter scared the hell out of me." She reached up to grab hold of his left ear and twisted it. He tilted his head to the left and down, leaning into the twist. _"OW, ow, ow_ _!_ _"_ She still had hold of his ear, but stopped twisting it. "Don't ever do something like that again, ever. Got it!?" She twisted his ear again and listened to him complain. "Yes, yes, yes," he replied while twisting his head. "Good." She reached up and slipped her arms around his neck. "Now kiss me." She stood on tiptoe to kiss him and then deepened the kiss.

She was so going to do wicked things to him tonight. When Kate broke from the kiss she was crying. "I thought I'd lost you." She moved her arms so that they were around him with her head resting against his chest. "You and Ann are all I have."

"I'm so sorry." Rick held her tight. "I thought it was worth it." She sniffed and wiped her nose on the back of her hand. "So what did you find out?" She put her arm back around him. "He's in the medical car, waiting for you." She took a step back to look up at him. "What!?"

"I think he's the one who has answers to your questions. Go ask him." He motioned toward the rail car. "I've pumped him full of drugs that will force him to tell the truth. He's all yours, go ask him. Jasmine and I will be here, waiting for you." He kissed her head. Kate was suddenly conflicted. She let go of him but didn't move. "What's his name?" she questioned. "William Bracken, ...US Senator William Bracken," he replied. "Senator!?" _Why would a Senator want her mother dead?_ "He's restrained and can barely move, plus the drugs make him docile and compliant. He will answer your questions, Kate. Go ask him." He gently pushed her away to get her moving.

She didn't remember getting there, but there she was, standing outside the door that led into the medical car. Even through the glass she could see someone lying on the bed that had an IV bag that was almost empty, the remnants of an electric blue liquid gleaming brilliantly in the light. Her slightly shaking hand opened the door and her wobbly knees got her next to his bed. He was awake and looking at her. It was a look of recognition; he knew who she was. Probably even knew her name. "Who are you?" she began. "Senator William Bracken." She could see him struggle to keep from answering and yet the words came out. "Who am I?" she asked. "Detective Katherine Beckett," he growled. "You knew my mother." She questioned him by making a statement. His eyes were blinking and he didn't want to answer. "Yes."

"Why did you kill her?" Kate got to the heart of the matter. "I didn't." However, his answer came too easily. _'He didn't kill her.'_ "Who did kill her?" she demanded. "Dick Coonan." He answered her a little too easily. _'Coonan, Coonan?'_ She thought she'd heard that name before but couldn't place it. "How do you know Dick Coonan?" Kate asked him. "I've hired him to do jobs for me." She noticed that he was back to struggling not to answer. She was on to something. "You hired him. Hired him to do what? To kill my mother?" He was blinking harder and gritting his teeth. "Yes." She couldn't believe it. She suddenly found it hard to breathe. Her mother's murderer was right in front of her. "Why? My mother wasn't a threat to you." She didn't remember her mother ever even mentioning him.

"She knew too much," Bracken responded. "Knew too much? Knew too much of what?" She still didn't understand.

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Kate was sitting on the steps leading up into the medical car and was crying heavily. Her arms were wrapped around her midsection trying to hold herself together. It wasn't working. She felt like she was falling apart. She didn't even notice Jasmine had heard her crying and had shown up to try and make her feel better. She loved Kate and she wasn't paying any attention to her.

Jasmine ran for the other person she loved. Maybe he could help her.

She was still crying quite heavily and had fallen down a step when Jasmine came back and nudged her with her nose and got nothing. The dog turned to her master and watched him standing there. Jasmine started whimpering and saw him step in close where he got down on his knees and reached for her hands.

The look on Kate's face broke his heart and his own tears started rolling down his cheeks. Rick could see her looking right at him as her own tears fell and her lower lip quivered. Then she fell into him which allowed him to wrap his arms around her and hold her tight. It did nothing to end her crying. He lifted her up and carried her to his room with her head buried in his neck. Neither of them saw Bracken smiling.

He took his time and started stripping off her clothes, including her bra and panties, then stripped himself. He climbed into bed with her and just held her. He was still awake when she finally cried herself to sleep. Rick had witnessed pain, heartache, men on the battlefield crying out for their mothers as they slowly died. This reminded him of one of those times. He patted the bed and watched Jasmine jump up and crawl to Kate's other side and lay down next to her.

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Beautiful hazel eyes blinked open and saw nothing but red hair followed by a sloppy, wet tongue. Kate smiled. "Hi Jaz." That was enough to get her licking her in earnest. If one lick got her attention, what would a lot of licking get her? Apparently it got her to start laughing while trying to get her head away from her tongue. However, she had a really big, long tongue and Kate wasn't getting away that easily. Eventually she buried her face into all of that hair and body to avoid the tongue, all the while giggling. "You're a good girl, Jaz." Kate petted her and patted her body.

"Where's Rick, girl?" Kate asked. "Right here." She twisted her head to find him standing there naked, displaying everything which made her smile. He sat down on the edge of the bed. "I brought you a little something to drink." He held out a glass of orange juice. She smiled, sat up a little, and took the glass. "Thanks." She couldn't help but take a peek at his cock. She had plans for it and the rest of him last night. "Careful, I put a little something extra in it." That really made her smile as she chugged it down and felt the tequila burn. "Thanks." She handed him back the empty glass.

"You know where the shower is. I'll have breakfast waiting for you." He leaned in to give her a quick kiss before standing to leave. "Rick?" Kate called out to him and used her finger to have him come back down to her as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. "I read your letter." She wondered if this was a good idea and decided it was already too late. "You wrote that you love me," she said hesitantly. "I loved you the minute I saw you. I love you even more now." He watched as she smiled widely and blinked back new tears.

He reached over and caressed her face. "No more tears, my Katherine. I hate it when you cry." He used his thumbs to wipe away the tears that had escaped her eyes. She took his hands in hers and looked him squarely in the eye. "I think... I mean I'm... I love you, too." Kate jumped in and prayed this was a good thing and he would be there to catch her.

His smile had her smiling in return and she kissed him with passion when he kissed her. "Go shower and get dressed." Rick leaned in to kiss her one more time then she held his head to kiss him back.

For a change Kate felt light as she walked to the shower naked and actually hummed while she showered. Unfortunately she had to put her old clothes back on. Then she walked into breakfast where she found another waffle with all the fixings on it. "You're going to make me fat," she teased. "There's a box car filled with workout equipment farther down, just past the medical car." That told her how he stayed in such marvelous shape. "We'll just have to see what you've got." She laid down a challenge. "Perhaps," he replied. _'Perhaps nothing! I want to see you working out shirtless and all sweaty.'_ It reminded her that she hadn't gotten laid last night.

"What are you going to do with him?" She changed the subject rather abruptly, getting serious before she had to leave. "I'll come up with something. I was thinking of looking for an abandoned place in Egypt maybe. What about you? Are you going to be okay?" She had taken a tremendous emotional blow last night. "Honestly, I'm fine, I do have something I need to do though. I may be back soon," she warned. "I'll be here and dressed," he teased. "You don't have to get dressed on my account." She gave him a wicked grin.

"Be safe, love. Oh, and he'll be gone before you get back." Kate nodded as she readied herself for what was to come. Rick let her press the panel, step inside, and choose where she wanted to go. He walked to his room and got dressed in his full combat outfit. It paid to be careful.

Rick wasn't surprised when Bracken tried something. However, Bracken quickly realized why he hired his killers instead of doing it himself. Rick threw him down the steps where he crashed onto the concrete floor. His left arm had been split wide open again, and was bleeding badly. "I can get you anything you want." Bracken tried bribery knowing he had no intention of giving him anything. Rick simply dug his fingers into his open wound, causing Bracken to cry out in severe pain. Then Rick dragged him by his bad arm.

Bracken sat on the floor while Rick chose his new living location. Once there Rick had no trouble getting him on his feet while digging his fingers into his injured arm and pulling him outside into the oppressive heat. "Enjoy your stay as you reflect upon the choices you made that got you here." Rick stepped back inside and went home so he could clean up the mess.

Kate meanwhile, had been building up to a roiling volcano all set to blow. She was headed directly for Ann and encountered her downstairs. "Hi..." Ann started to say and tease her yet again. However, Kate took her hand. "Come with me," she said tersely as she pulled her along behind her, making a beeline for Captain Roy Montgomery. She found him sitting at his desk.

"Beckett?" Roy actually looked a little happy to see her. Right up until Kate quickly pulled out her weapon and pointed it at him. _"_ _ **KATE!**_ _"_ Ann was too shocked to do anything and Roy's smile vanished in an instant. Kate ejected her clip and let it fall on his desk, then she pulled the slide back to eject a round that wasn't in there and threw her gun as far away as she could get it to go.

Next she pulled out her old detective's ID badge and threw it at him, hitting him square in the chest. Roy's face went from shock to anger. "I resign, effective immediately. I had a little conversation with someone you're acquainted with last night, one William Bracken," she informed him coldly as the color leached from his face. If it was possible for a black man to look white, Roy managed it.

"You dirty, stinking, son of a bitch. You knew who killed my mother all this time and you lied about it straight to my face. All this time! _**YOU KNEW!**_ So much so that you were in on her killing. You, Raglan, McAllister, the three of you. Three despicable, rotten cops on the take. You shouldn't be a captain. Hell, you shouldn't even be a cop. You should be rotting in prison, shanked in the yard for the filth that you are. How many have you let die because you were a dirty cop? How many ROY!? All of their blood is on your hands you ASSHOLE!" Kate screamed at him, her face blazing red in fury. "Kate?" Ann looked at her perplexed even though she had heard every word. "Beckett I can explain." Roy tried desperately to get in a word.

"EXPLAIN!? _**Explain to my dead mother!**_ Explain to all the people Bracken had killed because you helped him, you protected him. I'll bet you even removed evidence, doctored all the paperwork, covered up every illegal thing you've ever done. GOD, if Evelyn ever saw what you turned yourself into." Kate kept screaming at him, never noticing the crowd her voice had attracted. Thankful that Evelyn and his girls were gone, so they didn't have to see and know what had become of him.

"It's yours, everything I own. You can have it all. I'm out of here." She began walking away. "Beckett it's not what you think." Roy tried to get her to stop and listen to his side. "I heard it straight from the psychotic bastard who ordered all of those murders that you covered up, including my mother's," she called over her shoulder.

Ann pulled her weapon and pointed it at Roy. "Sir, you're under arrest," she informed him, her voice steady. "Someone shoot that son of a bitch for me." Kate yelled just before slamming the door closed behind her. Her life there just came to an end.

"Hastings..." Roy started talking. "Your weapon and shield, sir. You're under arrest. Don't think for a second that I won't shoot you. I know how much her mother meant to her and the possibility that she was lying is _**zero**_ _._ ...Someone got some cuffs?" Ann watched him reach for his weapon. She made her point by leveling her weapon a little tighter. "Careful, slowly with two fingers."

Kate was stone-faced and stoic as she placed her hand on the wall outside and waited for the door to open so she could go home. Just as before it closed she heard three quick shots and only for a second wondered if Ann was the recipient of them, but thought it highly unlikely. Still she would check in on her later. By the time the door opened again and she found Rick standing there waiting with Jasmine standing next to him, her resolve gave out and she fell into him and started sobbing.

The one man she trusted most in all these years was part of her mother's murder. Her parents were gone, her partners were gone, her best friend was gone. Her world felt like it was crashing down around her. All she had left was Ann, Rick, and Jasmine. Rick wanted to know how it had gone, but he could guess. He felt justified in killing all those people he had when retrieving Bracken. He'd left him alone in the heat of the Egyptian desert with no water or food. Bracken deserved it. Let nature take him slowly.

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"Where are we going again?" Kate inquired watching Rick place his hand on the wall. They were going there empty-handed, wherever it was. "I know of a place that we can use for a while. We just need to move some of the food if you like it." He was still being a little cryptic. "Have I mentioned that I hate surprises?" she groused just as the door opened. "I think you'll like this one," Rick replied as she grumbled in annoyance. She was only two days removed from her confrontation with Roy and her nerves were still raw.

A few moments later the door opened. The warmth of the place hit them as they stepped out. What she found wasn't what she was expecting, not even close. To her right she saw a driveway that had a golf cart sitting in it. To her left there was an outdoor pool surrounded by a black fence and beyond that were trees and the ocean. Rick guided her toward the pool which allowed her to look to the left and see that they had stepped out of a wall of a large house that had a large open space of green grass with trees below them and ocean beyond.

"Where are we?" Kate started smiling since she was liking what she saw. "This place is called Turtle Island. It's near Queensland, Australia. The owners didn't make it so we should have it all to ourselves. ...Interested?" he asked her with a gentle, hopeful smile. "We can stay here?" she asked still looking around. "It has fifteen rainwater tanks, solar power, and solar hot water panels on the roof. A backup generator that runs on propane, which could be a problem. Four bedrooms each with its own bathroom. Green space, a pool, a beach on one end, and a deep water dock on one side. Complete with a boat, last I looked."

"We could even stay here completely naked twenty-four hours a day. We just need to find enough sunscreen and move some of our food here from time to time." Kate turned her head to look at him. "Naked, huh?" She smiled widely at that thought. "Just food?" She smiled even wider as she went back over to the outside wall of the house and placed her hand on it. "You coming, Castle?" Kate grinned and let Jasmine run around since she already loved this place.


	11. Chapter 11

**CH11**

Kate was lounging in the pool totally and completely naked just as they had been since packing up a refrigerator full of food from Rick's sanctuary below New York. She turned her head to see if she was burning. They had gone through a whole lot of sunscreen over the last week. Parts of them were exposed to the sun for what might be the first time in their lives. Satisfied, she went back to staring out over the grass, trees, and out into the ocean where there was another small island close by. They had yet to see if the boat would even start yet to go looking.

She was smiling and was totally happy. They had initiated the bed that very first night only to reinitiate it again in the morning. They had made love to each other in the pool, on the sofa, and the dining room table. She had even been on her hands and knees while Rick took her from behind outside on the grass. She soon learned that she didn't have to keep it all in and was finding out that she was very vocal in her lovemaking.

Jasmine's arrival as she ran around the pool barking at Kate since she was still unwilling to get into the pool on her own, announced that Rick was right behind her. Kate turned to look and couldn't help but smile as his jewels juddered with each step. She was so going to get laid in this pool again before they finally got out. He also had a drink in each hand and passed off hers before slowly getting in the pool. "Thanks, babe." She took a sip. "Yum, tequila sunrise."

"Happy?" Rick asked her. "Very!" She leaned over to kiss his cheek. "There's something I want to talk to you about though." She looked down at her drink. "Your friend," he guessed which made her lift up her head to look at him in surprise. _'How_ _in the world_ _did he do that!?'_

"She's all alone in the city. Her fiancé, the love of her life, didn't make it and I was all she had." She abandoned her drink by putting it on the edge of the pool. "So you've told me and I have a thought about that." Kate started smiling at him. "Oh, do tell." She was quite willing to listen.

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Kate had been right about not getting out of the pool without making love to him, it was just for a different reason than she had planned. It was a week later and she was fully dressed for the first time in two weeks, getting ready to step out the door. "I'll be right here." That got him a quick kiss before she stepped out and worked her way to where she used to live. "Beckett!?" She was waved at and she waved back. Turning a corner she almost walked into L.T. "Hey, L.T.," she said with a smile. "Beckett, good to see you. If you're looking for Ann she's at Montgomery's old desk." L.T. pointed over to a door before going outside. "Thanks L.T., good to see you."

"KATE!" Ann jumped up, wrapped her arms around Kate, and just held her for a while. "You've been out in the sun." Ann brushed a hand over her face and through her lightening hair. "Yeah, I'm a little burnt in places that haven't see the sun in a long time."

"If you came back to make me suffer you can go back." Ann didn't let go of her and her smile gave away that she wasn't serious. "Actually I came here to offer you something. It would work best if you saw it first though," she told her. "You brought your boyfriend with you." Ann grinned at her and raised her eyebrows. "Come on, we have a proposition for you." Kate reached for her hand, took her outside and around the corner, and placed her own hand on the wall. She pushed Ann inside, right into Rick while she squeezed in making things very tight.

"Hi Rick." Ann smirked since his muscled body was right up against hers. "Miss Hastings." He pressed a place on the door and zoomed in before choosing his destination location. "You two have _got_ to tell me how you do this one day." Ann was seriously envious of her friend.

Moments later the door opened and everyone stepped outside. "Where are we?" Ann noticed that it was heavily overcast and threatening rain. "This is Hood River, Oregon," Rick replied. "It's located on the Columbia River about sixty miles east of Portland Oregon. What it has is an agricultural base with apple and pear orchards and cherry trees along with a number of vineyards. My research tells me that it used to have just over seven thousand residents with the average age between five and seventeen years old. It also has a small number of small high-tech industries. Keep in mind this was years ago."

"And I'm here why?" Ann had never even been on the West Coast. She was a big city girl, always had been. "Several reasons actually. We've done some looking around and asked questions. The population here is down to two thousand four hundred eighty-six permanent residents as best they can tell. And the average age has changed to thirteen to twenty-nine years old," Kate began.

"The majority of them are men," Rick added which kind of had Ann's attention. "What they don't have but need is a sheriff, which is where you come in," Kate said. "You expect me to leave New York so I can move to a tiny town on the west coast?" Ann couldn't believe these two. Kate took her hand and walked away from Rick a little. "Ann, you yourself have told me there's no one that interests you in New York. This place needs an officer badly and it has a little under two thousand men in it. Granted it's boys and men, some of them are married, but a lot of them aren't."

"Please Ann, you're miserable there and you know it. He's gone and as much as that hurts, waiting for him to come back or living off of your memory of him isn't a real life. It's just existing. Trust me, I know." Kate had given up living after she lost everyone and was simply going through the motions.

"So what does this town have?" Ann caved in a little at least enough to listen. Kate hugged her tightly and took her back to Rick. "They have power from a dam, onother that uses natural gas as well as some solar panels, but mostly the dam. They have a way to make gasoline when they can find oil to make it with. They have lots of fresh water, so much so that they can take showers each day." Kate had Ann's attention now. "They have food and a way to grow it and hunt for it. You can go skiing and mountain biking all in the same day. Mount Hood is just over there, it has deer, elk, bear and other animals. There's also sailing, windsurfing even. Fishing, too," she added.

"They're also expecting you," Rick said which told Ann that they had talked to the locals. "You two certainly are trying to sell this place." Ann really felt the pressure they were placing on her. Kate took both her hands in hers. "You're my best friend. I'm not leaving you in New York where you're miserable. I don't know if there's a man in this town for you or not. I just know everyone in this town is someone you don't know and haven't rejected for one reason or another. You deserve to be happy too, Ann. Even he wouldn't want to see you wasting your life missing him. Please talk to them. Let them tell you what they have to offer. They're not living off of supplies from a government that may never send another supply boat ever again." Hood River was essentially self-sustaining.

Ann sighed. "Fine, but I make no promises." Kate squealed and hugged her tightly.

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It had been two weeks since Kate and Rick had helped Ann relocate to Hood River, Oregon. She was young and would hopefully be the sheriff for a really long time. Plus she had been a big city homicide detective and had been involved in one or more shootings, so she wasn't afraid. And she was a female and they needed those, badly.

Rick and Kate were stepping out from a wall in downtown Hood River and found someone who knew exactly where Ann Hastings was at that moment. They turned the corner and watched her walking down the opposite side of the street, dressed in her uniform and her police utility belt. She turned to get into what looked like a Jeep Renegade 4x4 that had a light bar on it. "ANN!" Kate yelled and started running while Rick just walked and watched them meet in the middle of the street, hugging and talking rapidly.

Rick sat in the back while Ann drove them to her office. "So how have you been?" Kate asked her while she drove. "Good actually. I never thought a big city girl like me would like living in a small town. And this place is amazingly quiet. Almost everyone here is from here. We have a few people from other towns or cities, but not many."

"So have you found or seen someone special?" Kate so desperately wanted her friend to be happy. Ann hesitated. "Maybe... We haven't done anything. Not even kissed but he keeps coming round and he's cute." Kate started dancing in her seat while Ann chuckled at her.

She showed them her little office that had a lone, empty jail cell. "I've never even used the stupid thing. Now that you've seen the office I need you to see the home they put me in." She actually didn't spend much time in her office since the phones didn't work and neither did the cell towers.

They were back in her jeep and headed for her home. "You seem to know your way around," Kate remarked. "I'm getting there. I can't begin to tell you how many times I got lost at first." Ann laughed at herself which made Kate smile since her friend sounded so much better.

While they drove she waved at a man who was walking down the street. He smiled and waved back. "Was that him?" Kate twisted to look at him for as long as she could. He had an average build, light brown hair, and a close-cut darker brown beard that was well-shaped. "I'm detecting a pattern with the beard," Kate commented as she faced forward. Ann simply smiled and started to blush. "Paul's nice," Ann said shyly. That was suddenly another pattern since the fiancé that she had loved so much was also named Paul.

"This is me." Ann pointed to a small Victorian house on a hill. It had a lot of steps leading up to the front door that was well hidden by plants that had gotten too tall. Ann, however, turned the corner and started up a hill only to turn into a driveway. A driveway that was filled with cracks in the concrete. In front of them was an old-style, single car garage that looked like it opened by swinging open the two doors.

It was a pale yellow with white trim, definitely not a painted lady. "This way." Ann led them through an opening to the right and up to a back door that led directly into the kitchen. It boasted the original white cabinets everywhere, a linoleum floor that resembled brick, and it a faux brick backsplash. The appliances were mostly white with a black dishwasher. It had a tin ceiling. The oven was in the wall and the range was in the countertop next to it.

"I'm not a fan of all the brick but all of the appliances work so I can't complain. This way." Ann walked into the dining room. This room was small and had a round, wooden pedestal table and four really old wooden chairs. There were wood floors with a large red Persian rug under the table with built-ins between this room and the kitchen. A large double window was off center.

Ann took them into what turned out to be an enormous living room that had another rug just like it facing the fireplace. "This room's huge, and look at all the windows!" They could even feel the breeze that went through the room since all of the windows were open. However, it was sparsely furnished.

From there she showed them the front entrance that had beautiful woodwork on the stairwell. They went up the carpeted stairs a few steps and went straight and back down again and found themselves in an exercise room. It had a stationary bike and a massive weight bench with free weights sitting off to one side.

"The bedrooms are up here," Ann said as they continued up the stairs. "This is my room." It had a large bay window on the far side. A queen-size wooden bed, wood dresser and an old wood steamer trunk graced the room. "The pink walls are starting to grow on me," she chuckled. Kate had to admit she didn't see Ann being a pink person.

Next came the bathroom that was next door along with two more bedrooms that each had a bed. Back down stairs she showed them the downstairs bathroom that was just off of the weight room. "And then there's the view." She took them out the front door and showed them the vista of downtown Hood River along with a glimpse of the Columbia River just beyond. There were even a couple of old Adirondack chairs out there along with a small table. "I think there's another chair in the garage. Not sure what kind of shape it is in though. OH! And we have beer!" She hurried back inside.

Rick made his way to the garage, pulled the doors open, and saw everything that was in it. It took work but he managed to free the chair and got the doors closed again. He carried the chair around to the front porch and found Ann and Kate sitting side by side holding a bottle of beer. Kate handed him his before he sat down.

"I spend most of my nights out here just looking at the view. You can occasionally see a boat out on the water or one or two of the teenagers in town out windsurfing. I haven't found the nerve to try that yet."

"This place is good for you Ann. I haven't seen you smile this much in years," Kate said. Ann smiled again then waved as a car went by and turned right to go past them as the passenger waved back. "They live a couple of houses down."

They remained silent for a while and just watched. "What happened?" Kate finally asked. Ann finished her beer and put it on the table. "After you left I pulled my weapon and told the captain he was under arrest. I asked if anyone had cuffs, not really knowing what we would do with him." Ann paused, thinking it through to get it right.

"Montgomery reached for his weapon and I told him to take it slow. And at first he did, then suddenly he pointed it right at me." Ann could still see him getting ready to kill her since she wasn't wearing a vest at the time. "Oh, no!" Kate clapped both hands over her mouth. "I froze... I warned him that I would shoot him but he kept his weapon on me."

"Oh, Ann, I'm so, so sorry. I should have handled it myself. I heard the shots and I'm so sorry." Kate berated herself for leaving Ann to deal with him. "I didn't do it. For some reason I couldn't. Then suddenly three shots rang out. Montgomery slumped sideways and fell to the floor. He lived for maybe a few seconds and he actually looked ... peaceful."

"Suicide by cop." Kate shook her head, upset that Roy made one of their own take him out. He had turned out to be a coward after all. She was starting to hate everything about him, she used to think that she loved him like a parent. At least respected him greatly.

"If you didn't then...?" Kate questioned. "Gregory had his weapon out as well as two others including L.T. Gregory put two rounds into him and L.T. put another." Ann could still see it all happen. "He was really dirty?" Ann needed to hear it again and Kate nodded.

"His name was William Bracken and he was a U.S. Senator," she said. "A senator? Why would a senator want your mother killed?" Ann didn't see the correlation. "He was working his way up to making a run for president. He was funding it by drug sales. Anyone who found out too much was eliminated and Roy would get rid of evidence, doctor documents, or simply not file them."

"And your mother found out about his drug deals," Ann guessed and watched Kate shake her head. "My mother was investigating a mob enforcer with the possibility of representing him. He'd been convicted of murdering an undercover FBI agent. He had been framed by Raglan, McAllister, and Montgomery for it while it was Montgomery himself who had shot and killed him."

"If my mother found enough evidence, his goal of reaching being in the U.S. Senate would be gone, let alone his bid for the presidency. So he hired a hit man named Dick Coonan to kill her. He stabbed her in the very alley the FBI agent had been killed in."

"Politics, all this for politics! ...I hope they all rot in whatever hole they're hiding out in. Probably well-fed while we starve, probably with medical, and the best of everything." Ann couldn't believe it. Rick, however, knew that a number of those very politicians were dead. Either out right killed or dead from blood loss from the deep wounds he had inflicted.

He shook his head. "It was about power, not politics. Politics was simply a means to obtain that power. He wanted complete control, not answering to anyone. Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and countless others throughout history. From small-time dictators like Mao Tse-tung, Kim Jong-il, Pol Pot, Vlad III, Idi Amen Dada, Tsar Nicholas II, Hideki Tojo. History is full of them." Rick left out that he had actually met a few of them.

"Great, now I need another beer. You two want another? I've got plenty," Ann offered. "Sure. Just remember to leave a few for you and Paul," Kate teased. "It might take more than a beer to get me to do something stupid." Ann headed for the door. "Or the right thing for a change," Kate countered, meaning jumping this Paul person.

The sun had gone down and they could actually see the lights of the city. "It almost looks normal here," Kate commented. The city lights, the sound of people, horns from boats sounding. Even just the noises of a small town

Kate hugged her friend on their way to leave for home. They needed to get back to feed Jasmine. "Don't go getting all scared of Paul. Give him a chance, Ann. Loneliness isn't all it's cracked up to be. Trust me, I was the queen of being alone." Kate blinked back her tears. She really wished her old friends, especially Lanie, could see her now. Listen to what she was telling Ann. It was the exact opposite of what she had been arguing against. Trying to convince them and herself of what she was doing.

"Try not to be invisible. I expect you two to visit as much as possible. You apparently have a way to get here in moments and I'm still waiting for an explanation about how you do it." Ann was dying to hear everything about it.

It only took moments to shed their clothes, feed Jasmine, and slide into the pool completely naked again. Then they began kissing and got a little handsy. Finally Kate had her legs wrapped around him as she moaned from the feeling of making love to the person she couldn't live without.


	12. Chapter 12

**CH12**

 **Epilogue**

 **It is now 1.45 months later:**

Rick and Kate who were by now extremely tanned with hair that was a number of shades lighter, were in Hood River, Oregon. They were dressed as nicely as they could be with scavenged clothing that was still in good shape and fit them. Only Kate was sitting far up front and was looking at Paul Stills, who was dressed quite nicely and looked ready to throw up from the tension. Kate was grinning while watching him nervously fiddle with his fingers, check his jacket, run his hand through his hair; he just couldn't stand still.

Then everyone heard Mendelssohn's _Wedding March_ and all heads turned to look. It took a moment but Ann stepped into view with her arm linked with Rick's. Ann's parents were like her own, both long since gone. She was gorgeous and Rick looked so handsome. By the time he was handing off Ann to Paul, Kate was wiping away tears.

Rick sat down next to her and Kate kissed his cheek. She was so happy for Ann, she deserved this and more. Everyone listened to their vows to each other. They slid rings that neither Kate nor Rick had any idea of where they'd gotten them from, and finally kissed. Then they were presented as Mr. and Mrs. Stills for the first time. Kate stood up and clapped then put her fingers in her mouth and gave out a loud whistle before going back to clapping hard and loud.

She couldn't take it any longer. She wrapped her arms around her friend and let her joyful tears fall. "I'm so happy for you. Just don't lose him." She watched Ann wipe her own tears away and shake her head. However, Ann reached into her little bouquet and pulled out yet another ring and handed it to her then curled her hand closed with it tucked in her palm.

"Your turn." Ann pushed Kate closer to the minister that had just done Ann and Paul's wedding. She now noticed that Paul was handing Rick something and spinning him in place to face her. "What!?" She tried to turn to look at Ann who simply and with force, held her in place and turned her back around to face Rick.

"Dearly beloved, we are all gathered here today to witness our second marriage of this new year between Katherine Houghton Beckett and Richard Edgar Castle." Kate's eyes went wide and her tears only increased as she stared at Rick. She mouthed, _'I'm going to kill you.'_

They had talked about marrying but hadn't done anything about it. Apparently Rick had gone behind her back and gotten her best friend and her fiancé now husband, to surprise her. Ann knew how much she _hated_ surprises.

Kate soon heard Rick speaking and did her best to listen to every word. "Katherine Beckett, I've lived and thought that I had known love. However, once I met you I realized that I had never really known what love truly was. I love you with every part of my soul and I will love you till the end of time itself. ' _Which is going to be a really long time_ _,_ _'_ _he_ _add_ _ed_ _while leaning far forward so that only_ _she_ _could hear._ With this small token of my love we will show all who see us that we are bound to each other, forever." He winked and reached out to take her hand and placed a ring that she still wasn't really looking at, on her ring finger.

"Rick, I was broken and only existing till I met you. You've shown me what life is like and worth living when it's with the person you love more than any other or anything. I don't want to imagine my life without you in it ...forever. This small token will show just how much of my soul loves you and always will." Kate slid the ring Ann had given her on his finger and then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. "I love you, Rick," she whispered after breaking from the long and heartfelt kiss. "And I love you, Kate," he whispered back.

"It is my privilege to present to everyone present for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Castle." They all started clapping as Kate began to blush when Ann whistled just as loud as Kate had done.

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Kate had finally made it over to Ann almost two hours later while Paul and Rick were talking to each other. "I am so going to get you for this." However, the tone of her voice said otherwise. "You can thank me now," Ann answered and found herself being hugged tightly. "You three planned this didn't you?" she asked since these two had rings waiting for them.

"Actually it was Paul's idea and I jumped at the chance. Knowing you, you two would have remained single for years to come and we both know you love him more than life itself," Ann told her which made Kate chuckle. "You're still my best friend and you're right, I owe you."

"I have something to tell you. ...I'm pregnant," Ann whispered so only Kate could hear. "YOU'RE WHAT!?" She was shocked and her raised voice got the attention of everyone still in the room. "Keep it down, I haven't had a chance to tell Paul yet. I only took the test yesterday." Pregnancy test kits didn't get stolen by gangs much and Hood River didn't have any of those anyway so finding one had turned out to be easy.

Ann was soon being crushed in Kate's arms. "You two are going to be great. Just so you know I intend to spoil him or her mercilessly." That made Ann giggle. Then she said, "Only if I get to retaliate with yours." Her eyes downcast, Kate was silent.

It was something else Kate and Rick had talked about so that Kate would understand. "Don't be angry but I've had sex with a number of women in my past," Rick told her. "I know and for the record I'm not a virgin either," she replied. "What I'm trying to say is that I can't have children...I'm infertile. There just aren't enough little guys to get you or anyone else pregnant." That had Kate shocked into silence.

She'd never really thought much about having her own children, though to be honest she hadn't thought she would ever find anyone to want to have children with. She still felt the loss of the chance but it didn't prevent her from loving him, all of him.

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 **It is now 60 plus years later:**

Kate stepped out of the door looking exactly like she had sixty or more years ago. She wasted no time in walking across the bedroom to the person lying on the bed. The sun through the bay windows was starting to set, a fitting display for what she feared was going to happen today. The twilight of a life that was ending.

She got down on her knees and stroked the old and wrinkled face of Ann Hastings, or Ann Stills. The sense that her friend was close had Ann opening her eyes slowly till they focused on Kate's face. "Hi," Ann managed to whisper. "Hi," Kate replied as her tears started.

She and Rick had made it a weekly occurrence to show up and have dinner with Ann and Paul. Every Sunday they would bring things that they had found for her first son and then the second. They had become Aunt Kate and Uncle Rick. This had lasted for a lot of years. It wasn't until the boys got older, into their late teens and started asking too many pointed questions that it went from weekly to bi-weekly to monthly then bi-monthly and finally yearly till their last time here was about 3 years ago to attend Paul's funeral. She almost thought of both of Ann's sons as hers since she was never going to have children of her own.

"You're going to have to tell me how you do that one of these days." Ann was too tired to raise a hand to stroke Kate's face though the movement had Kate taking her hand and holding it to her face. "How about today?" she offered quietly and watched Ann smile.

"Rick is over 5,000 years old. He was born in what we call northeastern Syria in an ancient city that became part of Mesopotamia. He was in a battle defending his city and was struck in the heart and did not die. We both have been calling him an _Immortal._ You remember those _worms_ that are in my body thanks to this ring?" She held up her hand to show it to her again.

"We think the two halves of the ring and your _worms_ have made me just as immortal." Ann smiled at her. "You get to keep him forever." To never lose the man you love, she would like that. "I'm so sorry," Ann said with a sudden feeling of sadness. "For what?" Kate didn't understand. "I'm going to die on you." She could almost feel it.

Those words allowed the tears that Kate had been holding back release and travel down her cheek. "You're going to get to go on an adventure, one I may never get to have. You're going to find out what's next. Besides, I envy you." Kate saw the look of confusion on Ann's face. "I may be immortal, but I'm also sterile. Neither of us came have children. You have something that I never will. Two beautiful sons who love you."

That explained why Kate and to a lesser extent Rick, doted on her two sons when they were little. Gave them birthday presents each and every year. Celebrated Christmas and Thanksgiving with them. Went boating and even helped teach them when they were young, how to windsurf. "That _thing?"_ Ann asked since she had Kate talking.

"Rick's been around a long time and knows a lot. You remember that Star Trek teleporter? This is a little different, it's a metal cylinder with computers and controls all around it. It creates its own out of phase tunnel that allows you to travel through the ground anywhere you want to go. It usually only takes seconds. You've seen how small it is. You just need a wall, any wall. Rick has tried to explain the power source but it was over my head. Actually we've spent the last sixty years naked on an island near Queensland, Australia."

"Naked huh!?" Ann tried to smile widely which made Kate chuckle. Both she and Rick were well tanned all over and had no use for sunscreen anymore. "What about Jasmine?" Ann asked so softly that she barely heard her. She could only shake her head. Jaz had passed away almost fifty years ago. Kate was forced to assume that she had forgotten since she already knew the answer to that question. They had brought Jasmine with them several times. Her boys had gotten to grow up with a dog in their lives.

Kate could still remember breaking down and sobbing after burying her on Turtle Island, the place Jasmine had clearly loved most. Rick had lifted her up off of Jasmine's grave and carried her inside and just laid with her till she cried herself to sleep. They had both done a lot of searching but never found another dog let alone a puppy. "She was a good dog," Kate told her then saw that her eyes were closed and the spark of her life had gone out. "Have a pleasant journey Ann Hastings, say hello to your parents for me. If you see mine, tell them I love them."

She rose and stumbled to the wall, then placed a hand on it, stepped inside, and just missed one of her sons stepping into the room. Kate staggered back out of the door and fell into her beloved's arms and broke down crying again. Her best friend was gone and now all she had was Rick.

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 **It is now 1,583 years later:**

Kate had ended her shift a few hours ago and was expecting Rick home soon after finishing his shift though he said he had somewhere to go first. "He better hurry up. I'm almost done." She was talking to herself in their minute kitchen that had just two heating units, a minuscule oven, a tiny dishwasher, an mini-fridge, and an even smaller freezer. She had, however, stopped at Hydroponics to pick up their weekly supply of fresh vegetables and fruit. Everything was rationed with good reason.

She heard their front door cycle and watched Rick step into their equally tiny apartment. It was a studio apartment just like all of the others. Theirs was one of the few that actually had a window in it that was more large pothole of a ship. It looked out onto a barren red landscape. "Your timing's perfect, dinner will be ready in a minute." She spun to give him a quick kiss. "What's that?" She saw an official tablet in his hands. When he didn't immediately answer, she began dishing out their dinner onto plates to take to their space-saving table.

"There's something we need to read over and fill out so we can be considered for selection," he answered cryptically. "Considered for what?" she asked as she carried both plates over to the table and set them down. She returned to get the silverware and glasses of water. He finally dropped his bombshell. "The colony ship that's leaving next year." She dropped the silverware and stared at him in utter surprise.

"Seriously!?" Kate turned to look at him. "I mean I like Mars, I really do and I like my job, but to stand on green grass and smell fresh air instead of recycled air..." She was already dreaming and closed her eyes to picture it. She snapped them open again. "Think we stand a chance of being selected?" It was their second hurdle with just getting the application being the first.

She knew both of their jobs were a necessity and only a handful actually knew anything about hydroponics where Kate worked. Rick worked in the mining industry which is what got both of them out to Mars and off of Earth in the first place. He was an engineer in the industry not an actual miner working in the mines. "We fill out the forms, turn in the tablet, and wait." Her shoulders slumped as _poof,_ her dream disappeared into nothingness. He took her in his arms. "We both have skills that an early colony will need. We don't have kids or family that we're leaving behind and you're not pregnant, which is an automatic disqualification. We have a good chance, love."

The colony ship was actually a sleeper ship that ran on full automatics till they reached the system that had been selected. The sleeper system had a number of requirements, not being pregnant was one of them. "What about my... _worms?"_ One of those requirements was to undergo a complete and invasive physical. "You remember what happened when you broke your arm? Their scans found the fracture but not any of your _worms_ as you call them," he reminded her. "Actually Ann called them _worms,_ you called them _tendrils_ if memory serves," she replied, sighing.

Rick tightened his arms around her. "I'm still sorry you lost your best friend, but you're going to lose still more friends in the future." He had lost his fair share of them. Kate leaned her head on his chest. "I hope she's enjoying her next adventure and that it isn't as hard for her as the last one was." She rested in his arms for a moment. "Where's a stylus?" she suddenly asked and moved in his arms only he didn't release her. "Dinner first. We have a month to fill out all of the forms and return the tablet."

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 **It is now one year and 2.25 months later:**

Kate was sliding into her suit that would be plugged into the hibernation system and found the damn thing to be skin tight. It was giving her trouble. "Stupid suit!" his frustrated voice rang out. She turned her head and started laughing. He reminded her of a vegetable that was partially peeled. His family jewels were extremely prominent and he just couldn't seem to get the thing closed across his broad chest. A chest that she still adored and had lost herself in countless times.

She walked over to him completely topless since the suit was the only thing they were allowed to wear. Kate placed her hands on his chest and simply smiled up at him. "Breathe out babe, let all the air out of your lungs." She grabbed both sides. "I'll pass out," he complained. "Do you want to go or not?" She tried sealing the suit over his chest. "Now exhale completely you big baby." She was too busy looking at his chest and thinking of all the things she could do to it.

Suddenly Rick expelled all the air from his lungs and it wasn't until he was almost blue in the face that she finally got him into his suit. She took a step back to watch him suck in some much-needed air. "How's that?" she asked him. "I can barely breathe," he complained. "Now you know what it felt like wearing that merry widow corset you got me that one time," she informed him tartly as she remembered squeezing herself into that thing. "But you looked so damn sexy wearing it," he countered with a far-off look on his face. She smiled as she remembered the hours of sex that had followed. "Help me with mine?" She spread her arms wide. It had taken a lot of work to just get it past her hips and skinny butt; she was afraid the top would be as tight as his was.

Kate was trying to blow every breath of air out of her lungs as Rick closed the upper part of the suit over her breasts which were compressed onto her chest to the point where she felt like she didn't even have breasts anymore. It was like she was a fifteen-year-old flat-chested teenager again. Except this time she had a husband standing next to her that knew just how to make her come unglued so many times that she was still amazed at what he could do to her.

They were ready and stepped outside into a hallway filled with other people dressed just like them. They all looked just as uncomfortable as they were. From there they walked down to the transfer deck where everyone was forced to grab a handhold to keep from floating away.

Next came floating across the enclosed gangway over to the enormous and incredibly long colony ship. Everyone was broken up into the sections of who they were and what their job was onboard the ship. In their case, along with several others, they were in the middle of the ship near the flight deck. It was already filled with a number of shuttles that already had cargo in their holds strapped into place. The flight crew were in pods near what was considered the bridge. Others were in pods near engineering.

Spread out from the flight deck were the almost countless cargo holds that held all of their supplies which was several tons worth, which meant almost nothing out in space, except for the space that it used.

Kate and Rick got in line and watched a team place people into pod, after pod, after pod. Hook them up, close the Plexiglas front and activate the unit. "See you on the other side." He stepped/floated into his pod. "I'll be waiting babe, don't disappoint me." She watched them hook him up and close his door. Then it was her turn. She had wires routed to the cap on her head, tubes that were routed to her arms and feet, and was told to close her eyes, so she missed seeing the door being closed. In only seconds she started to feel sleepy.

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She opened her eyes and watched as her Plexiglas door opened. Kate fell out onto the floor barely catching herself on her hands and knees. She felt like shit and her wires and tubes disconnected after being stretched too far. That was followed by her vomiting whatever was or wasn't in her stomach. Breathing in deeply, she tried to take in her surroundings. The sound of someone else vomiting caused her to turn her head to see who was being sick. It was Rick. He was on his hands and knees vomiting on the floor.

Countless others past him were doing the same thing. Her mind was a little foggy, but she didn't remember this part during the countless orientation meetings they'd had to take. Then the pod next to her opened and out fell a guy who didn't catch himself and literally fell to the floor and threw up while laying there. The next thing she noticed were the shining red lights blinking everywhere. It gave the place an eerie glow like they were in the bowels of Hell. "Babe?" she rasped and then went into a coughing fit.

Rick was able to help her to her feet. "Alarms?" Kate tried to remember what would set them off. Emergency evacuation was the first thing that came to mind. "Escape pods." She thought about those first which were on another deck. However, he shook his head. "Flight deck." He took her arm and pushed her toward a ladder.

"Why is there gravity?" Kate caught on as they ran. They didn't have artificial gravity so being out in space meant floating everywhere. She headed for an elevator only to have Rick stop her. "Too dangerous." He started sliding down the ladder to reach the flight deck. She placed her feet on the outside of the ladder, used her hands and feet to slide down the outer rail, and then use them to slow herself down.

Down on this deck they found people running around all over while they had to fight and push their way to the flight bay. Along the way they saw a woman huddled on the floor crying while on her knees. Rick stopped, lifted her up, and got her moving. Kate grabbed a man who looked totally lost while everyone else was jumping into escape pods, ejecting themselves outside before the pod was completely full. That meant someone or several someones would have no way off the ship.

Rick cycled the door after making sure the flight deck was still enclosed from the outside. "Pick a shuttle and hook up the skids to the back," he told them. Kate chose the next shuttle over, grabbed the tow cables, and attached them to her shuttle. "Pick a shuttle you two. Now go, we probably don't have much time." He could only think of one reason why they had gravity and that meant trouble.

"I don't know how to fly one," the man called out. "Learn by doing or stay here and die," Rick yelled as he secured his two tow cables and headed for his shuttle door. "You're first Kate, we'll follow you. Give these two a minute then open the outer door." He stepped inside.

There were actually six shuttles along with twelve skids, all of which were packed with material they would need to build a colony, and that was just in this bay. There was another bay just like it. Kate powered up everything and waited a moment before pressing the code that would open the outer door after cycling the air out of the bay.

She launched her shuttle and prayed the others were right behind her. "OH, SHIT!" She resisted the urge to bank hard because if she did she would either lose her skid or the skid would force her to crash.

There was a mountain range right in front of them and Kate really wanted to miss it. She watched her radar display show the other three shuttle were right behind her like train cars on tracks following the locomotive. The mountains had snow on them. "Too far north, we'll freeze and so will our crops." They also needed water, lots and lots of fresh water. She turned on her ground terrain scanner. It quickly showed her that the land mass she was over was ending soon. She was on the wrong side of the mountain range and didn't trust being able to get over it so she went out over the ocean.

She was starting to think going out over the ocean was a bad idea and they just didn't have the fuel for a long flight, and where she was taking them was a big risk and might get them all killed. Then she saw a series of three good-sized islands show up on her radar. Kate slowly banked that way while looking at her ground radar display. The largest of the three had volcanic activity so she skipped that island and moved on to the next one. It was the smallest of the three and looked a little too dry, especially on the west side.

The next island had a pair of mountain ranges with a massive deep valley in-between them. On the east side she saw a pair of rivers join and flow toward the ocean. She decided this was a good spot and went downstream till she found a large, empty, flat space near the coast that looked like it had a really nice beach that lasted for miles.

Kate tried to come in slow. She fired her thrusters, felt the thrusters on her skid also fire, and did her best to land carefully and slowly. She watched her radar and saw the shuttle and skid behind her land precisely next to her. Next came a shuttle without a skid that landed a lot heavier than either of them had but it was down. The last one blew over their heads. She was thinking he finally found the thruster controls but by then it was too late. He hit the ground really hard and tumbled out onto the beach, splitting himself open and throwing the contents of his cargo hold everywhere.

She ran outside, found Rick, and wrapped her arms around him. Next came the woman he'd picked up who looked a little green. Kate attributed it to what had just happened. "What happened to the other shuttle?" he asked. "He crashed out there near the beach." She pointed to what was likely a mile away from where they were. "What happened to the ship?"

He shook his head. "It crashed into that mountain range we ourselves almost hit." He'd left where they were going to Kate while he watched what their ship did. They heard the woman moan over this news. "I'm sorry, did you lose someone back there?" Kate took her into her arms, only to feel her shake her head.

She let go of her and looked her over. "You don't look well." Kate could sort of relate since they were supposed to receive a drink after being brought out of hibernation. It was meant to help their systems get back into balance. She was guessing that her _worms_ were working overtime to counter the affect. Then suddenly the woman doubled over and her hibernation suit started to ooze blood between her legs. _"_ _ **RICK!**_ _"_ He had mentioned he had been a doctor once. He laid her on the ground. "Knife, check your shuttle." He began trying to open her suit with the intent of taking it off her. Kate came running back out with what looked like a box cutter. "Her period?" she questioned since she hadn't had a period in hundreds of years.

Rick shook his head. "The blood's brown." Kate looked as he cut the suit exposing her breasts that sprang free. He continued cutting, exposing her core. That only released still more blood. "Oh, god! ...Babe?" Kate didn't know what it meant, but Rick asked the woman a question that shocked her. "Were you pregnant when you went in?" The woman nodded. Kate clapped her hands over her mouth and sucked in a deep breath. "SHIT!" He sat backward on his ass. "Why would you do that, you know what that means," he said sadly. He could only guess how she had managed to sneak being pregnant past everyone and end up onboard. "He's dead and the baby was all I had left of him," she cried, and then became silent. Rick scrambled up on his knees and checked for a pulse. He sat back and shook his head. "OH, NO!" She fell to her knees. Her long time dead baby had killed her thanks to hibernation and she wept over still another loss of life.

Rick just sat there for a moment. "We need to get to the other shuttle and see if he survived. Maybe we can do something for him. Then we'll come back and bury her." Kate nodded and felt herself being lifted up.

It was a long walk to reach the fourth shuttle. When they found it, it was broken into pieces with the contents of the cargo hold spread out all over, some of it was floating in the water as the waves came onto the shore line. Kate pointed to the piece that looked most like the cockpit and walked that way. It was ripped open. She looked away while Rick checked inside before carefully crawling his way inside.

A few minutes later he was back, shaking his head. Kate buried her head in his chest. They were all that was left out of a colony ship that held thousands. "Escape pods!" She suddenly grasped for a silver lining. "They all ejected over that main land mass where the ship crashed. If the reactors breached..." Rick let his voice trail off. She knew what that meant. The location would be heavily radioactive for years to come. Any people whose pods landed even close would be irradiated and would die slowly.

"There might be a few outside of that range," she suggested. "And without fuel that was on that ship, the best any of the three shuttles we have can do is search the island you selected for us." He told her what she already knew. Then he reminded her of their immediate issues. "We need to get back and get started on shelter, collect fresh water, and take inventory of what we do have. Then come down here and find a way to pick up all this stuff and get it back to camp."

They walked back the way they came. Kate went to one of the two skids and started the inventory while Rick buried the woman and then said a few words over her grave. "I think I may have found something!" She hurried back over to his skid, tapped the large box, and let him read. "We need to get this puppy open." He was excited and kissed her on her cheek.

It took a couple of hours; they finally had what was inside out and looked it over. "Batteries are dead." He sighed heavily only to see Kate move back over to his skid and pat another box. Two hours later they had the solar panels out and had it plugged in to power it up. "Shelter's next, we can collect water tomorrow and look to see what we have for food after that." The body could last without food longer than it could without water.

"KATE!" Rick called out which had her jogging to him. He pointed out what he'd found which made her grin. "Give me a hand?" They spent an hour taking crate after crate of various sizes off her skid which represented a third of what was on it, while what they had found earlier only represented a quarter of that skid.

"Now where do we put it?" He definitely wanted her opinion. "We need sunlight if we want to have power but we don't want to get flooded out." She tried to think about it while looking around. "That little hill over there maybe?" But it had a pair of drawbacks. One, it was on the wrong side of the river they were next to and second, it wasn't flat. "We wait for our friend here to get charged then." He agreed it was a good spot. "Where do we sleep tonight?" It looked like it was going to be dark in a couple of hours. "Shuttle seats?" he said with _"Please don't shoot me"_ written all over his face. She bit back a laugh since she wanted to sound annoyed at his idea. "So much for getting any sleep," she groaned. "Could be worse, we could be in pieces that glow in the dark for the next few hundred years." That didn't really go over very well. "Too soon?" She nodded her head.

Come morning their helper was fully charged and Rick activated him after finding a tree to pee against while Kate found her own spot to do something similar. "Okay big guy, let's see what you've got." He was talking mostly to himself as he watched it unfurl and spread out. It looked a lot like a large metal bug since it had six legs, a head and a sort of body which was more like a flatbed truck to her thinking.

"Carry all of these crates to the other side of the river. Once that is complete you are to level the top of that little hill so that it will just barely allow the dome to be constructed on it. Begin now." Rick watched it pick up several of the crates and place them on its flatbed body and carry them across the river. It returned to get the rest of them, followed by starting to level the top of the hill.

"Clothes and then inventory?" Rick asked. Kate nodded, ready to get out of that very restrictive suit. "No clothes?" she asked hopefully. "We'll get sunburned without sunscreen and I'm not sure if we have any at all, let alone enough. Our tans are long gone." That didn't deter her at all as she began stripping with no intention of putting clothes back on. While searching and taking an inventory of everything they had, she watched a naked Rick doing the same. They just had to find the interior's package and put it all together. She was getting laid tonight, even if it was out on the grass again. This planet was getting inaugurated whether it liked it or not.

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Kate stepped out of their dome on top of their little hill. "RICK, BABE!?" she yelled. "In here," Rick called which had his naked wife walking to the second dome that they'd found. He had turned it into his workshop-garage space. "May I come in?" she asked loudly since he had been telling her to stay out. He was working on a project. "Give me about ten, maybe fifteen minutes."

She turned her back on the dome and looked around. They had a small garden and had started construction of a greenhouse-hydroponics building using another dome kit they had found. Not far away were plants that she'd dubbed bananas, papayas, and mangoes. They had found something that reminded her of pineapples, sugar cane, cucumbers, sprouts, avocados, peppers, tomatoes, and an assortment of herbs.

Where they were never appeared to get cold and most of the time when it rained it blew in and out the same day, just enough to give everything some much-needed water. They had built a pipe from the river up to their dome home to supply fresh running water. They still had a number of things to work out, chief among them was something other than an outhouse.

Hearing Rick open the big doors on his dome brought her out of her thoughts and she turned in his direction. She clapped her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Still she knew what it looked like. "What _is_ that?" Kate got closer, watching him sitting on it with it between his legs. "It's a hover bike. I scavenged the parts and power plant amongst other things from the wrecked shuttle down on the beach. I mounted one of our weapons to the underside. And it has room for two." He patted the padded space behind him. "Did I ever tell you that I used to have a Harley Davidson Softail? I worked all summer long to pay for the thing," she said with a faraway look.

"So you know how to ride." He was impressed and surprised by his wife yet again. "Maybe better than you," she teased. "Well, we'll just have to see won't we?" he replied as he got off. She thought he was handing it over so she started to get on only to see him come back out riding another one that looked a lot like it. It also had a weapon attached to the bottom. She laughed with glee and wondered what else her husband would surprise her with next. "Put your money where your mouth is?" Rick arched and wiggled his eyebrows a couple of times. Kate was game and was thinking that they were going to have sex on these bikes, too.

"One more thing." He held up his hand. "K-9!" he called out and something she didn't have words for came hovering out of his workshop-garage. It had four legs that didn't look like they would bend but the space where there should have been paws glowed a soft blue from the hover capability. It had a body, a head that resembled a dog's head, its ears were fat brown antennae, it even had a nose and a tail. In place of its eyes was a single, large, red visor-looking thing. "You built a dog?" She got back off her bike and walked right up to him, her, it.

"Mistress." The dog had a mechanical voice that was a little high pitched. "And it talks!?" Kate's jaw dropped and she stared at Rick. "We're changing its name," she informed him in a no-nonsense voice while running a hand over its body and watching him, her, it wag its tail, its ears moving back and forth. "Affirmative Mistress." The dog agreed with her. "I kind of like K-9," Rick pouted. "We're changing the name," she told him again as she started to mount her bike, giving him a quick view of her slightly hairy core which had his cock twitching. Always had, likely always would.

"Affirmative Mistress." The dog agreed with her yet again. "Two against one, Castle." She grinned wide since she was going to spend all night thanking him for both of these items, not sure which she liked the most: having a bike again or having a dog again, even if it wasn't Jasmine.

"I don't suppose you're armed, too?" she inquired, turning her head to look at the mechanical dog. She had already begun thinking about a male dog's name, since it sounded like a guy more than a gal. "Affirmative Mistress. The Master has installed a high-powered laser." She watched his nose glow red before it shot out a high-energy laser beam that scorched the ground a number of yards away. She was now very, very impressed.

"I also have a hover trailer that we can tow behind one of the bikes," Rick added while smiling. _GOD BUT SHE LOVED_ _HER_ _MAN!_

"Think anyone survived the crash?" Kate questioned while she looked over the controls on the bike. She noticed it had foot pedals as well as hand levers that reminded her of her old Harley. "Possibly, but if they did they're on the mainland without what was stored in the shuttles or skids," he remarked. "There _was_ a second flight bay," she reminded him. He thought about it. "Point taken. Either way, neither group has the capability at this time to reach the other." She knew he was right. For now they were alone and they were comfortable being alone with each other, naked as much as possible.

"How long do you think before they try that again?" Kate queried. "Make design changes, maybe they have found a new drive system or a new power source. We used a number of fusion reactors that detonated two hundred fifty pellets per second to create high-energy plasma which would then be directed by a magnetic nozzle to create thrust. Using this system it took us forty-eight years to get here. Hence the development of the hibernation system. Otherwise they would be launching kids out into space unless they found adults willing to spend the best years of their lives out in space for the benefit of others." Rick sighed and thought about it some more.

"There are other systems to go to instead of Bernard," he said. "Two hundred years minimum maybe, three hundred might be closer depending on that they find in another system. Thirty-six years one way just to send a probe to find out what happened to us and thirty-six years back. Yeah, three hundred years sounds like a good round number," he remarked. "And we'll be here waiting on our little island paradise," she confirmed. "When they do show up, this is _our_ island, babe; I'm not interested in sharing it." She wanted to keep it and spend her time breathing fresh air, eating fresh food, and making love to her husband when the mood struck her which was a lot she had to admit.

"Let's explore our home." Kate fired up her bike after looking over all of the controls and getting used to reaching for them. "You coming Castle?" She smiled wide. "You too Mackenzie." Kate gave him his new name and took off giving Rick a nice view of her naked ass straddled on her bike causing his cock to start to harden. "That women is going to kill me."

"Negative Master." Mackenzie, Mac for short, contradicted his statement.


End file.
